


Friendly Neighborhood Trans Spider-Man

by Singing_Siren



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Canon-Typical Violence, Field Trip, Gen, Minor Ned Leeds/Peter Parker, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Bi and Tired, Peter has Sensory Issues, Trans Peter Parker, after civil war, but they all still love each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-08 02:24:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 30,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Singing_Siren/pseuds/Singing_Siren
Summary: Spidey - By the way, did anybody know that Captain America prefers blueberry pancakes????Peter sees the three dots instantly after sending his text.MJ - wait are you with the avengers for realSpidey - Yeah. No big deal. Just hanging out with the Avengers. In Stark Tower. Until Wednesday.MJ - youre such a fanboy but seriously though whySpidey - Aunt May is out of town, so she asked Mr. Stark to take care of me. Also, I just met the Black Widow and she’s really intimidating. I think she knows I’m trans.MJ - how





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy!

Sunlight streams through the window, alerting Peter of the time. He blinks hesitantly, but glances over to his alarm clock. The time is 7:00, fifteen minutes until he leaves for school. He sits up, rubbing his hand through his hair. Somewhere outside, car horns honk and drivers yell. He groans before resigning himself to being awake.

Peter stands slowly and stretches. He grabs clean clothes from his dresser and makes his way to the bathroom. Luckily, today is a Friday, and he doesn’t have any plans for the weekend. Peter quickly takes a shower, with the light off, then tries to wriggle his way into his binder. He brushes his teeth and looks into the mirror one last time. He smiles at his reflection, and leaves the bathroom. The clock says 7:12.

Aunt May is out of town, so Peter has to hurry through a breakfast of cereal and orange juice.

As the clock strikes 7:15, Peter grabs his bag, and rushes out the door and down the stairs of his apartment building. He says hi to the people he sees on the street every morning, and arrives just in time for the subway. He fidgets restlessly as he stands, huddling close to the pole, trying to avoid touching the people standing next to him.

Peter manages to survive through the ride, and he gets off at his stop. He takes the stairs two at a time and walks quickly to the school. Ned and MJ are waiting outside.

“Hey, Peter,” Ned says with a smile. MJ holds up her hand in a little wave.

Peter nods at the two, his smile growing. “Hey. How are you guys?”

MJ shrugs, but Ned sighs exaggeratedly. “My morning has been horrible. When I woke up, my mom was still asleep, so I had to make breakfast for us.” He winces. “I might have burned the pancakes a little bit.”

Peter laughs. The three make their way towards the school’s entrance.

“Hey, Parker!” Flash yells, making his way toward them. He is smirking and Peter has to hold in a sigh. He was having a good morning.

“What do you want, Flash?”

Anger grows on Flash’s face as he steps in front of Peter.

“I want you to stop being a freak.” He steps closer. “I want you to get out of my school.”

“Well, that sucks, because I’m not going anywhere.” Peter walks around Flash, ignoring his angry comments.

MJ and Ned share a look as they catch up with Peter.

“You okay, Pete?” MJ asks, frowning slightly. She gently sets her hand on his shoulder. He looks up at her sheepishly but nods.

“I’ll be fine.”

They part ways as the bell rings for first period. Peter heads to Chemistry, dreading it already. His teacher, Ms. Megan, is very transphobic and rude. Peter tries to keep his head down and get his work done, but she has a way of getting under his skin. So, Peter quietly enters the classroom and takes a seat in the back of the room.

Ms. Megan assigns some worksheet about stoichiometry and leaves the class to their own devices. Peter finishes it easily with twenty minutes left in the class, like always. Ms. Megan glares from her spot at her desk, but doesn’t speak up.

He manages to go through class without incident, but his mood darkens at the way Ms. Megan says his deadname. His other classes  have their usual difficulties, PE being the worst of them all. His binder hurts and he has to change in the bathroom. By the end of the school day, he is having trouble breathing.

The final bell rings, and Peter throws his bag over his shoulder. He makes his way out to the courtyard, where Ned and MJ are waiting. His binder itches, and he cannot wait to be home to take it off.

“Hey, guys,” he greets the two. “Anyone have plans this weekend?”

“Just regular stuff,” MJ says as they walk toward the subway. “Ordering pizza, watching tv, overthrowing the patriarchy, you know, normal stuff.”

“Well, that sounds great,” Ned takes over. “I’m going out of town with mom this weekend. It's going to be really fun.”

Peter nods and smiles. “That sounds like fun. I’ve got a date with the television.”

They talk until they get to Peter’s stop. He waves goodbye and steps off the subway. His mood has been successfully lifted. Until his phone rings.

Peter pauses on the sidewalk, dodging the New Yorkers who grumble angrily at him. He takes out his phone and his eyes widen in shock as he sees who is calling. Mr. Stark is calling Peter. Oh my god.

Peter almost drops his phone in his rush to answer.

“H-hey, Mr. Stark!”

“Kid, look, I’ve got some news for you.”

“Of course, Mr. Stark, what is it?” He bounces on his feet.

“Calm down. Happy will be outside your apartment to pick you up in an hour and a half. Pack a bag.”

“What, why? I mean, sir, why? Did I do something wrong?” Peter speaks frantically as he speeds his walk home.

“Your Aunt May won’t be back until Wednesday, so she asked me to take care of you until then. So, pack a bag and be ready in an hour and a half.”

Tony hangs up before Peter can respond.

He takes the stairs of his building two by two, but instantly regrets it as his binder tightens around his ribs. He fumbles with the keys and nearly crashes into the kitchen table. He spends the next hour rifling through his closet and throwing things into his Captain America themed suitcase. Then he spends the next thirty minutes worrying about the Avengers finding out about him being trans. He knows Thor will be okay with it because of Loki, but the rest he’s not so sure of.

Peter’s phone buzzes with a text from Happy telling him to come down. He takes the stairs more gently this time, and almost throws himself into the Stark Industries owned car.

Happy nods at Peter, his usual scowl in place. Peter nervously fiddles with his hands as he watches the New York buildings pass by. There are dark clouds touching the skyscrapers, and Peter knows it’s going to rain. He wonders what the view will be like from Stark Tower. Peter’s mind turns dark quickly. He doesn’t know what he will do when he has to take his T shot on Sunday night. Of course he packed it but will he get his own bathroom, or will he have to share with everybody?

The car pulls up to the Tower, stopping Peter’s train of thought. Happy walks around to open Peter’s door, but he doesn’t look to excited about it. Peter walks quickly into the lobby of the Tower.

“Mr. Parker,” Jarvis says from the speakers by the door, attracting some attention from the people around him. “Master Stark is waiting for you on the 82nd floor.”

Wow, Peter thinks, how many floors does the Tower have?

“Thank you, Jarvis.” Peter makes his way to the elevator, past the front desk where the receptionist waves him in. He startles as the doors close quietly in front of him. The elevator moves swiftly upward, passing floor by floor in record time. Of course Tony Stark only has the best elevators. He probably designed them.

The elevator dings and the doors open at the 82nd floor. Tony is nowhere in sight, so Peter tentatively takes a step into the room. It has couches and chairs positioned toward the tv on the far wall. The room branches out into a kitchen to the left and more rooms to the right.

“Hey, kid,” Tony calls from where he is in the kitchen. He wears a pink apron with the Stark logo printed onto it. “Jarvis told me you were coming. Take a seat.” He gestures with a spatula toward a seat at the kitchen bar. Now Peter can see that Tony is making pancakes, at 6:00.

He takes a seat, drags his suitcase to sit next to him, and looks up expectantly at Tony.

“Dinner is at seven, but Pepper has to leave early, so I’m making her favorite.” He pauses to flip a pancake. “Some of the group will be arriving soon, though.”

“Like th-the Avengers?” Peter’s eyes are wide and he shifts in his seat nervously. “The Avengers all have dinner together?”

Tony chuckles. “Most of do. It’s rare to get us all in one place at the same time. I told them that you would be here, don’t worry.”

Peter nods and his fingers drum on the bar in front of him as Tony shovels the fresh pancakes onto a plate. The elevator dings and the sound of heels on tile make Peter tense. That is until he looks over to see Pepper walking towards the two. She is smiling the kind of smile where you can tell it is genuine, not fake.

Pepper stops in front of Peter. She wears her normal business attire; it calms him. Pepper holds out her hand for Peter to shake, which he does.

“Hello there, Peter. I believe that Tony has told you about me?” Peter nods. “All good things I hope.” Peter smiles with Pepper.

She makes her way around the bar to kiss Tony on the cheek. They whisper to each other for a moment, and Peter focuses on drumming his fingers to give them some space. When their quiet conversation is over, she thanks Tony and takes the plate of pancakes. Pepper says goodbye to Peter and steps into the elevator.

Peter watches as Tony pulls the pink apron over his head and smoothes down his shirt. He places the apron on the counter and sets to cleaning up the mess he made.

Peter takes the time to look around the room. The kitchen is lined with cabinets, full of plates and cups. One specific cabinet in the corner catches Peter’s eye. There are mugs with all of the Avengers’ symbols on them. In the front are Captain America mugs and Hawkeye mugs.

“So,” Tony says, and Peter realises that the man is standing in front of him now, “do you have any questions?”


	2. Getting Settled In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter meets some of the team and gets settled into his floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

Peter has so many questions.

“Where will I be staying? Where do the Avengers live? How does Jarvis work? Who lives here?”

When Peter pauses to take a gasping breath, Tony smiles.

“You will be staying on the 84th floor. Most of the Avengers live here, including Natasha, Clint, Steve, Wanda, Bruce, and of course Pepper and me. Sam drops in sometimes. And I can’t tell you how he works. A magician never gives away his secrets.”

Peter nods. He racks his brain for any more questions when a thought hits him. “Wait, I’ll have my own floor?”

“Yeah,” Tony says, “each of us have our own floor.”

“Okay.” Peter’s voice cracks and he clears his throat. “Thank you, Mr. Stark. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem kid. Anyway, why don’t you head on up and get ready for dinner.” Tony tilts his head to the ceiling. “Jarvis, introduce Peter to his floor.”

“Yes, Master Stark.”

Tony nods his head toward the elevator. “Go on, kid.”

Peter jumps to his feet. He grabs the handle on his suitcase and walks nervously to the elevator, stepping in when the doors open. The ride is short because there are only two floors to climb. The elevator dings and opens to reveal the 84th floor. Peter takes a couple of steps forward.

The room he walks into is similar to the one on the 82nd floor, but smaller. The walls are a light blue. There is only one couch and one table, but they point to a regular sized tv on the wall. On his left there is a dark blue door. Peter opens it to see a bedroom with a king-sized bed and a dresser on the left wall. The comforter on the bed is decorated with his Spider-Man symbol, and Peter smiles. He sets his Captain America themed suitcase next to the bed.

He returns to the living room to explore the room opposite the bedroom. It is a huge bathroom with a shower and a seperate bath, with of course a sink in a counter and toilet. Peter openly gawks at the bathroom before backing up slowly and closing the door. It is the biggest bathroom he has ever seen.

He makes his way back to the bedroom and throws himself onto the bed.It is unsurprisingly comfortable. He stares up at the ceiling fan as he takes it all in.

Peter notices there are hooks on the walls above his head. He sees a note attached to one of the hooks. His curiosity is raging as he stands on his bed. If he stretches, he can almost reach the hook. He glances around the room as the answer to the situation comes to him.

Peter kicks his shoes off and steps to the ground. He makes his way to the wall closest to him with a mischievous smile. He leaps onto the wall, climbing with his fingers and toes. He reaches the ceiling easily and hangs from it with his feet. Peter reaches for the note on the hook and turns it so he can read it. It says:

_ For your web. -Tony  _

_ P.S. you can hang up blankets if you don’t have your web shooters. _

Peter’s smile grows as he drops the note to the ground. He touches the web shooters on his wrist and starts shooting to and from the hooks. When he is done, he has created a hammock/web as another floor to the room. He shoots out another string of web to the Spider-Man blanket on his bed. He pulls the blanket onto the big web and settles in.

Peter’s eyes start to drift closed. He is wrapped in warmth and rocking slightly. Without a second thought, he falls easily asleep.

“Mr. Parker,” Jarvis’ voice announces politely from the speakers near Peter’s head. “Wake up Mr. Parker.”

“Call me Peter,” he manages to mumble out. He rups at his eyes and sits up in his web, head barely missing hitting the ceiling. His eyes startle open.

“Master Stark has requested you for dinner.”

“Oh, crap, crap crap crap.” Peter mumbles to himself as he wriggles free of the blanket and drops from the web. “Jarvis, what time is it?”

“It is 7:25, sir.”

Even through the panic rushing in Peter’s chest, he feels a rush of pride at being called sir. The pride quickly vanishes as he realises he has been in his binder for 12 hours, and he slept in it. Oh god. There are only two options. He can take it off and wear a heavy sweatshirt for his introduction to the Avengers, or he can keep wearing it and hope his healing helps with the pain and irritation.

Peter chooses option two. He jogs to the bathroom and fixes his hair. WHen he feels he is ready, he steps into the elevator. Peter goes through his breathing exercises to calm his nerves. It doesn’t help much, but by the time the elevator opens, he feels better.

As Peter steps onto the 82nd floor, he is greeted by Captain America. Peter’s eyes go wide and all of his composure goes flying out the window.

“M-mr. Rogers, sir,” he manages to stutter out as Steve offers a hand to shake, which Peter gladly takes. “It’s so nice to meet you, officially. While we’re, you know, not fighting each other.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Peter. And please, call me Steve.” Steve’s smile is blinding, and Peter just nods. “Come on, dinner’s about to start.”

He leads Peter into the kitchen where Wanda and Tony are waiting.

“Little spider,” Wanda says from her seat at the bar. “It is good to see you again.” Peter returns Wanda’s lighthearted smile.

“You too, Wanda.”

“Come sit down, kid,” Tony says from behind the bar. He sets a plate down and Peter sits in front of it.

Tony made Peter giant chocolate chip pancakes, which he devours almost instantly. Tony was prepared though, and made seconds. Peter takes his time with these, making small talk with Steve and Wanda. It’s pretty awkward, but at least they are the friendliest of the group.

Dinner passes without much embarrassment. Steve leaves to do Captain America things, and Tony ‘has a company to run, kid.’ Wanda stays and finishes her third helping of blueberry pancakes. She asks if he wants to watch a movie with her, but the ache in his ribs stops him from staying. Peter politely excuses himself and goes back to his floor.

Peter steps into his living room and freezes. The Black Widow is lounging on his couch, reading a magazine. When Peter takes a tentative step forward, she glances up at him, then turns back to her magazine and turns the page.

“So, I heard we have another spider in the Tower now.”

“Uh, yeah. M-my name’s Peter.”

“I know,” Peter thinks he can see her smile for a second, but it’s gone when he blinks. “You can call me Natasha. Now, why are you in pain?” She is still reading her magazine.

Peter freezes again. He opens his mouth to talk but only gets out a small squeak.

“What? T-that’s crazy! I’m not in pain.” His voice is high-pitched and he cringes. Of course the Black Widow knows, she’s a super spy.

“You don’t have to tell me, Peter.” Natasha’s voice has softened, and she stands. “I’ll be on floor 88 when you want to talk.”

The elevator opens behind Peter. Natasha disappears behind the closing doors. Once she’s gone, Peter throws his head back and groans. He needs to get out of this binder.

Peter makes his way to his room and opens his suitcase. He grabs sweatpants, boxers, a sports bra, and a baggy sweatshirt. He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and puts it on the bedside table. Peter walks to the bathroom and turns on the shower. 

He puts his clothes on the countertop with a towel from the cabinet. Peter turns off the light and undresses. He puts his old clothes in the hamper by the cabinets and his web shooters on the counter.

The water pressure in the shower is wonderful. The water burns his skin in the best way, and it helps ease the pain in his muscles that the binder caused. Peter steps out of the shower and grabs his towel. He dries himself off quickly and hops into his boxers and sweatpants. He pulls on the sports bra and sweatshirt with a grunt of pain. It’s going to hurt more in the morning.

Peter grabs his web shooters from the counter and exits the bathroom. When he gets to his bedroom, he places the shooters on his bedside table and grabs his phone. He slowly makes his way up the wall and flops onto his web.

His phone says that it’s almost nine. He has four texts, two from Aunt May and two from the group chat with MJ and Ned. Ned says goodbye and he will text them on Sunday, and MJ says ‘goodbye loser.’ Aunt May just sent a string of emojis that loosely translate to ‘have fun’ and ‘don’t stay up too late.’

Peter smiles at that. He texts Ned and MJ.

_ Spidey - I’ll miss you, Ned. By the way, did anybody know that Captain America prefers blueberry pancakes???? _

Peter sees the three dots instantly after sending his text.

_ MJ - wait are you with the avengers for real _

_ Spidey - Yeah. No big deal. Just hanging out with the Avengers. In Stark Tower. Until Wednesday. _

_ MJ - youre such a fanboy but seriously though why _

_ Spidey - Aunt May is out of town, so she asked Mr. Stark to take care of me. Also, I just met the Black Widow and she’s really intimidating. I think she knows I’m trans. _

_ MJ - how _

_ Spidey - She asked why I was in pain, because I had been wearing my binder for more than 12 hours. She could tell I was in pain with just one glance. She’s amazing. _

_ MJ - YOU WERE IN YOUR BINDER FOR MORE THAN 12 HOURS please go to sleep and let your body heal itself _

_ Spidey - Okay, thank you. Goodnight MJ. _

_ MJ - night peter _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review! Tell me if you want me to continue! Reach me at my Tumblrs teardropsonrooftops or qquoththeravenn.


	3. Breakfast and Plot Twists

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy.

Peter opens his eyes to see a beige ceiling. He is rocking slightly in the web, and he takes a moment to realise where he is. He rolls onto his side to get more comfortable, but winces when his ribs shout in pain.

Peter reaches out for his phone beside him. He sleepily punches in the code to text MJ.

_ Spidey - I know that it is 7:23, so you are probably still asleep, but thank you. _

Peter sets his phone back onto the web and closes his eyes again. He starts to drift off, but is startled awake by the smell of bacon. Peter investigates where it is coming from, looking around the room and finding a vent near the ground. He thinks that it leads to the other floors.

“Jarvis, is Mr. Stark making breakfast?”

“No, sir. Master Stark had an early meeting, so Ms. Romanoff is making breakfast for the team.”

“Thank you, Jarvis.”

Peter sits up in his web, his Spider-Man blanket wrapped around him. He winces again at the pain in his chest. He gently climbs down the wall, after grabbing his phone, and collects new clothes from his suitcase. He attaches his web shooters to his wrists and heads to the bathroom. He changes quickly and gently, and decides to not put his binder back on.

I mean, Peter thinks to himself, if Natasha already knows, then I don’t have to hide it that much. And MJ will be mad at me if I put it back on.

He leaves his binder on the countertop and exits the bathroom to put on his giant sweatshirt. His sports bra sits uncomfortably on his chest and he squirms as he waits for the elevator. His body feels foreign. Peter can tell that it will be a bad dysphoria day.

The elevator drops him off at the 82nd floor. In the kitchen, Natasha is cooking bacon and eggs. She wears a black apron with the Black Widow symbol on it. Natasha is humming to a song that Peter doesn’t know.

Natasha stops humming and looks up from the eggs to see Peter making his way to the bar. He sits and smiles sheepishly at her.

“How do you like your eggs, Peter?”

“Scrambled is fine, thank you.”

Natasha nods and cracks two more eggs into a separate pan. She continues to make the eggs. A comfortable silence surrounds the two, but Peter’s curiosity gets the better of him.

“Um, Natasha?” he asks. She looks up at him and raises an eyebrow. “Is it obvious?” His fingers nervously tap out a beat on the bar as he tries to keep eye contact with her. Natasha’s face softens and she sets down the spatula. 

“No, it’s not. You have to remember that I’m a spy, Peter.” Her voice is comforting.

“Yeah, sorry,” he apologises quietly.

“Hey, it’s okay Peter. You’re in a new place and you’re meeting new people who you look up to. It’s not strange to be worried about that.”

“So,” he says, then lowers his voice again, “you’re okay with it?”

“Of course I’m okay with it. And everybody else will be too. Trust me. You might get some trouble with Steve but he’ll come around. He’s not really educated on these things.”

“Okay,” he nods. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” 

Natasha hands Peter a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, which he eagerly takes. Natasha chuckles to herself and starts to hum again as she makes the rest of the team breakfast.

When Peter is almost done with his eggs, the elevator doors open and Wanda steps out. She is wearing her black tank top and red jeans as usual. She gives Peter and Natasha a smile and sits down for her food. Natasha passes her a plate with scrambled eggs and a blueberry muffin. Wanda says her thanks.

They sit and eat as Natasha hums.

“So, Peter,” Wanda says as she focuses on her muffin, “how do you like it here?”

“It’s pretty cool. Mr. Stark put hooks on my walls for me to make a nest with my webs. And he got me a blanket with my spider symbol on it.” Peter can’t control the smile that takes over his face.

“I am glad.”

Natasha puts the rest of the food, except for one plate of bacon and eggs, in the fridge.

“So,” she says as she eats a piece of bacon, “Peter, do you have any plans for today?”

“Um, no. I haven’t thought about it. Normally on a Saturday I would just lay around and watch tv. What are you guys doing?”

“Well, Wanda and I are scheduled for the gym in an hour. Then, I have training with Steve. After that, around 12, I have a meeting with the Assistant Director of Shield, Maria Hill. Then I have free time, which I usually fill with following Clint around and scaring him, since he visits on the weekends.”

Peter nods. “I think I’ll text my friends and Aunt May. I probably shouldn’t be exercising today.” He freezes. He forgot that Wanda is sitting next to him. She just nods along and smiles encouragingly.

“It’s okay, little spider. I know. Sometimes I can’t control my powers.” Wanda’s face is apologetic.

“It’s okay. Just maybe don’t tell the others?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks. I don’t know what else to do today.”

This time it is Natasha who speaks. “Visit Bruce in the lab. He’s always open for visitors. As long as you’re okay with him fanboying over your DNA.”

“Are you kidding? I would love that!” Peter straightens in his seat. He is smiling excitedly.

The small talk declines after that. Natasha disappears to her floor when she finishes eating. Wanda says goodbye and goes to get ready for training with Natasha. Peter returns to his floor.

He checks his phone. It is 8:16, and he has two notifications.

_ MJ - of course peter _

He smiles down at the message as he sits on the couch in his living room. The other message is from Aunt May.

_ May - Are you having fun? Please tell me Tony has fed you. _

_ Peter - It has been interesting. Mr. Stark cooked last night and Natasha this morning. _

With that taken care of, Peter turns the tv on and signs into his Netflix account. He scrolls over to Friends and selects his last played episode.

Peter is on his second episode when it happens. The lights of the tower flicker twice before going out all together. The tv turns itself off. Peter can hear the hum of the backup generators as they kick on a few seconds later.

“Jarvis,” Peter asks the air, “what’s going on?”

When Jarvis speaks, his voice is crackling and skipping. “It appears that we are under attack.”

“What?” Peter jumps to his feet and rushes to his room to rummage through his suitcase. He pulls out his suit and quickly gets dressed, his binder first and then his suit. It hurts, but he doesn’t have time to hurt.

“Someone is taking our electricity. Master Stark has requested your presence on the helipad.”

The elevator opens and Peter steps in. He presses the button for the helipad as he pulls his mask on. When he steps out, he is greeted by the Avengers in their gear. Mr. Stark’s mask is open and is looking around for a head count. When he sees Peter, he relaxes.

“Okay, I’ll go with Peter. We’ll go check out the Arc Reactor and see what’s going on. Wanda go with Natasha to secure the perimeter. Make sure they don’t escape and take care of any extra attackers. Clint, get the high ground. Watch over everything and tell us if anybody moves. Bruce and Cap, inform the authorities to stay back and make sure nothing gets past us. Now, let’s get to work.”

The Avengers, plus Peter, split up and do their assigned tasks. Tony closes his mask and raises himself into the air.

“Get on, kid.”

Peter shoots two webs onto the back of Tony’s suit and hangs on for dear life as he hovers off of the helipad. Tony flies down a lower floor and hovers outside.

“Jarvis,” Tony says, “a little help here please.”

“Of course, sir.” The windows covering the wall open and Tony flies through.

They enter the floor to see a lab. Tony moves through it with ease, avoiding the inventions and projects. Peter sees the familiarity and guesses that it is Tony’s lab.

Peter detaches himself from Tony’s suit and trails after him. His chest hurts more, and he hopes it isn’t obvious. The farther they go into the lab, the darker it gets. The lights on the ceiling flicker, and Peter whispers for Karen to turn on his nightvision.

The two approach where the Arc Reactor is. There is a glowing, hunched-over figure next to it. Their eyes glow a bright white, and Peter can see electricity coursing through them.

“Hey,” Tony shouts over the crackling sound of energy. “Step away from the Reactor!” He raises his hand and the repulser comes to life. The figure’s head snaps toward Tony.

“No…” The eyes surge with more electricity. “It’s mine.” Their voice is deep and garbled.

The figure stands to their full height. Peter can see the outlines of a jumpsuit beneath the electricity. They look like they just came from a prison. They step toward Tony and Peter. The ground becomes charred where their feet touch it.

“I am above you.” They take another step. “I am electricity.” Another step. “I am Reactor.”

“Okay, Reactor.” He draws out the name with extreme exaggeration. “Please surrender and we will get you some help. No one will hurt you.”

The figure, Peter is guessing a man at this point, seems to grow before their eyes. He stretches and bends. Peter hears the electricity crackling and burning the man’s skin. Reactor has singed hair and most of his skin is charred.

“Trust me, Stark. I won’t be the one being hurt.”

Reactor glows brighter. He shoots out a stream of electricity towards Tony. Tony dodges out of the way and manages to only get shocked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave reviews! If you guys have any questions or anything else, come visit my Tumblr, teardropsonrooftops. If you guys haven't noticed by now, each chapter is 1700 words so it takes like three days for each chapter. So, be patient! And thank you for your reviews!


	4. Pain and Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They fight Reactor and recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me a long time to write. I've been having some writers block for this story, so I've been writing for my Blackhill stories lately.

Peter can feel the heat radiating off of Reactor as he shoots off another surge of electricity. Reactor lets out a primal growl as Tony dodges it again. He shoots with both hands this time and clips Tony’s armor. Tony gets blown back into the wall and lands on his knees.

Peter rushes to his side.

“Mr. Stark,” he says, panicking, “are you okay?”

Tony waves him off and calls out to the Avengers through his comms.

“We found him. I need Cap and Scarlet Witch to come to the 2nd floor lab.” Tony pulls himself to his feet. “Hurry please.”

Peter can hear the two shout out affirmatives. Now hopefully Tony and Peter can fend Reactor off until they get there.

Reactor steadily advances toward Tony, paying Peter little attention. He has his bright white eyes fixed on Iron Man. Peter sees this as a chance to help. He scans the room, looking for something to hurt Reactor with. If he just takes away the energy bursting through the man’s veins, Reactor wouldn’t be a threat.

As if reading his mind, Reactor turns his head slightly in Peter’s direction. He extends his arm, it pulses with energy. The energy spirals out from his shoulder, crashing through the air toward Peter.

Peter sees it coming and dives out of the way a second before the light will hit him. He dives into a roll, groaning in pain when his binder digs into his still sore ribs.

“You mortals cannot stop me!”

“Luckily,” Wanda says, walking into the lab, “I’m not just mortal.”

She reaches out and red wisps appear in the air in front of her. Wanda cocks her head to the side and twists her hand. The red wraps around Reactor’s outstretched arm and launches him backwards.

The electricity in his body reaches out to the walls and ground, grabbing and pulling him back to his feet. He grins, flashing his bright white teeth. His electric tentacles stretch out to Wanda and Captain America, who has just walked in, shield at the ready.

Wanda waves her fingers, dragging the red strings to counter the electric tentacles. She does this with a bored expression, as if waving away an annoying fly. Peter’s lips turn up in a smile, and he breathes through the pain, amused at Wanda’s actions. She holds back the harmful energy from touching her team.

“We’ll give you one last chance, Reactor. Power down and no one will hurt you.”

Reactor draws back, his strings of light retreating back into his body. Tony lowers his repulser and steps forward, expecting surrender. Reactor’s grin turns sinister as his body pulses with held back electricity. Peter knows what will happen before it does. He shoots out a web and tries to draw Tony back from the crackling light, but Tony’s armor weighs more than Peter can move, even with his enhanced strength.

Steve moves before the surge of energy leaves Reactor like a tidal wave. He dodges in front of Peter, shield blocking the electricity as best as it can.

Wanda pulls up a shield of red, covering half of Tony’s suit but still leaving him open to the attack.

The last thing Peter sees before the pain overwhelms him is Reactor’s snear. As his vision fades to black, he hears the rest of the Avengers enter the room.

-+-

The first thing Peter feels is the pounding in his head. The second is the IV needle poking his arm. He feels vibrations in his throat and he guesses he groaned in pain. He’s not all aware of his body yet, thanks to the drugs pumping through the IV.

Peter can hear whispering beyond the sound of the heart monitor. He can make out the familiar Sokovian accent talking to an unfamiliar voice.

His eyes slowly blink open to a dimly lit hospital room. His vision clears as he stares up at the beige ceiling. His clears his throat, the dryness of it hurts, making him cough. He sees a nurse rush up to his side, checking his vitals. He blinks up at the man, who gives him a smile in return.

Feeling slowly returns to his body. Oh no. His ribs are free of the pressure of his binder, and he looks down to see he is wearing a Stark Industries hoodie. A feeling of dread rushes over him, making his heart rate quicken.

The whispering stops as he looks up to see Wanda, Natasha, and Bruce Banner looking at him in relief.

“Little spider, how are you feeling?”

Peter takes a moment before he answers, trying to rein in the emotions in his voice. “M-my head hurts.” He looks away, not wanting to see the looks on their faces. Bruce knows that he’s trans. This isn’t going to go well.

“Hey,” Natasha speaks up from her spot on the chair next to Peter’s hospital bed, “are you okay, Peter?”

He feels something wet slide down his cheek and realises he’s crying. Now he’s crying in front of half the Avengers. Great. Peter raises the hand that doesn’t have the IV and wipes away the tears from his face.

“Yeah, I-I’m fine. It’s just, everything hurts. A lot.”

Bruce steps forward. “I will up the dosage for you, if you want.” His eyes are warm, and Peter has to close his eyes.

“Yes please.”

The pain slowly subsides as Bruce picks up a syringe and inserts the liquid into Peter’s IV. He exhales in relief, then opens his eyes again. They’re unfocused and he has to squint to see clearly.

“Thank you.”

“Of course, Peter.” Bruce sets the syringe down and gestures for the nurse to leave the room.

“Wh-what happened? Did he escape?”

“He sent out a wave of electricity,” Natasha takes over. “You passed out and Tony’s suit took damage. Wanda and Steve were still recovering from the blast, and Reactor managed to slip away. We think you passed out from pain.”

“Makes sense,” Peter murmurs. “Bad idea to wear my binder today.” With the medicine roaring through his veins, he doesn’t care about the consequences of coming out. Peter’s eyes start to flutter closed.

Natasha smoothes out his hair, pushing it back from his face. “Go to sleep, Peter. We’ll talk when you wake up.”

As Peter drifts out of consciousness, he sees the soft smile Natasha gives him.

-+-

The light wakes him up. The pain has dulled to a sore ache, and his stomach is growling. He’s hungry and all he wants is pizza.

The window to the hospital room is open, sunlight streaming through. He blinks quickly to adjust to the new light. Peter is alone in the room this time. He glances over at the bedside table where his phone is sitting. He winces as he reaches over to grab it.

_ MJ - peter i heard stark tower was attacked are you okay???? _

Peter groans. He has another text from Aunt May asking the same thing. He responds to both of them saying he passed out but Dr. Banner says he is fine. Then he sends a text to MJ saying -  _ Oh my God, Bruce Banner knows I’m trans and he smiled at me! _

His phone says it is around 4:30, so he was asleep for a couple of hours.

He sighs as he sets his phone back. Peter looks down at himself. He’s wearing the Stark Industries hoodie and basketball shorts, covered by hospital sheets. The hoodie mostly covers the bump of his chest, but he can still see it. It fills him with fear.

Peter is startled by a knock on his closed hospital door. He clears his throat and tells the person to come in. His voice is high pitched and shaky, and he hates it.

Natasha opens the door slowly, peeking her head in. When she sees that Peter is decent, she steps in fully.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better. I‘m hungry.”

Natasha smiles. “That’s good.” Her face gets serious and Peter fights the urge to shrink back. “You know not to wear your binder for more than 8 hours, 10 at the most. What were you thinking Peter?”

If Peter is surprised by Natasha’s knowledge about binders, he doesn’t dwell on it long. He chuckles humorlessly. “You sound like my Aunt May.” When Natasha raises an eyebrow at him, he gets serious again. “I was thinking that my healing would kick in. I didn’t want to say no to fighting with the team. Mr. Stark said he wanted me to help, so I put on my binder and did.”

“Peter, you should tell him. He can help.”

“I know,” he says as he looks down. He picks at the edge of the sheet in front of him. “I will. Just-” he looks up at her hopefully, “-do you think that you could be there? When I tell him?”

“Of course. I’ll beat him up if he says anything wrong.” She delivers the threat with her signature monotone voice and blank face, which makes Peter laugh. A smile cracks through her emotionless facade. “Now, Wanda and I are going to keep you out of your binder for the next two days. Bruce’s orders.”

Peter nods. “So, Dr. Banner is okay with it?”

“Yeah, he’s okay. He wants to help by designing a new binder for you to be Spider-Man in. He also asked me if you are taking testosterone.”

“I take one every Sunday night. One is in my suitcase for tomorrow.” His voice takes on a more somber note. “Can I go up to my room? I want to change.”

“Yes,” she says, frowning. “I’ll help you up there.”

Peter swings his legs over the side of the hospital bed. He winces as he removes the needle from his arm, then lowers himself off of the bed. He walks tentatively to where Natasha is standing near the door. She opens it and leads him to the elevator. They make their way up to Peter’s floor.

Natasha says her goodbyes as the elevator opens to the living room. She leaves him with a worried look.

Peter sighs out a breath of relief, then makes his way to his web.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please drop by my Tumblr teardropsonrooftops! And leave a review please! I've lost a bit of my inspiration so talk to me about it.


	5. Trouble?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is short and late. I apologize.

He spends the rest of the day relaxing in his web. His feet dangle off the edge as he scrolls through his phone. He and MJ have been texting for a while, but she had to go to dinner with her family. Peter misses Ned.

 

He sighs, regretting it when his chest aches. It’s only been a day and a half without seeing Ned, but he misses the way they could sit and talk forever. He misses their Monday movie night. He misses him.

 

He also misses MJ, but it’s different when they can text each other when Ned can’t. The best moments are the ones where they all just sit together in a comfortable silence; no expectations and no purpose.

 

What now? Well, first, Peter goes back to school on Monday. He’ll suffer through the bullying, the stares, and he’ll get to see his best friends again. Then, Happy will take him back to the tower, where, hopefully, he can get some training done. He has never trained before, so it will be a new experience.

 

He has to wait until Dr. Banner gives him the all clear to patrol again, which sucks. With Reactron still out there, he wants to help. His phone startles him out of his thoughts.

 

Aunt May - I just heard about the attack, are you okay? I thought you would be safe there, but now I’m not so sure.

 

Oh no. He totally forgot about contacting to her after he woke up.

 

Peter - I’m okay!! Don’t worry, they fixed me up right away and now I’m just relaxing. Everything’s fine.

 

Aunt May - What do you mean they fixed you up? What happened?

 

Peter - It was just a minor wave of electricity, nothing to worry about.

 

Aunt May - I’m calling Tony.

 

Peter sighs. There’s no way to talk her out of it.

 

“Jarvis,” he says to the ceiling, “tell Mr. Stark that i’m sorry.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

-+-

 

He manages to sneak up to the roof in time for the sunset. The wind whips around him as he looks down to the city below. He watches the tiny people go on with their lives. The sound of horns surrounds him. His feet dangle off the edge of the roof, his hands firmly clutching it just in case.

 

The purples and oranges of the sky make him smile through the dull ache of pain left over from the fight.

 

His hearing sharpens suddenly. His head tunes out the sound of the wind and focuses on something far. His spidey-senses tingle.

 

“Help!”

 

Peter pulls on his his mask from his back pocket as he stands. He pauses slightly before shooting out a string of web to the nearest building. He doesn’t have time to put the rest of his suit on. He’ll have to rely on the setting sun to hide him.

 

He leaps.

 

He doesn’t get far before he stops falling. Frozen in the air with red mist brushing around his limbs, he sighs.

 

“What do you think you are doing, little spider?”

 

“Somebody needs help! Look!” He points down to an alley that’s just visible from his view. A man crouches over a body on the ground.

 

“Stay here.”

 

He hangs lifelessly in the air, web still grasped with one hand, while Wanda steps off the ledge. She dives down, slowing herself as she gets closer to the ground. Peter watches with wide eyes.

 

“Peter, why are you floating?”

 

He yelps and twists his head to see Dr. Banner with his arms crossed.

 

“Um, no reason. Just wanted to watch the sunset. This doesn’t have anything to do with Wanda.”

 

Police lights flash in the street below him. Dr. Banner raises his eyebrows. Peter realises he’s still wearing his mask. Uh oh.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I continue this? It's been a while.


	6. Hawk-Guy and Spider-Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Clint are best friends, and maybe there's a serious moment in here, but you didn't here it from me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while! I hope you like this chapter. I have some ideas for the future of this story. I'll tell you at the end ;)

Peter groans into his hands. The tv in front of him blares the sound effects of a frying pan hitting a tomcat. Clint laughs loudly and nudges Peter’s shoulder with his.

“That’s hilarious!” Clint snorts and tosses a chip into his mouth. “You want some?”

Peter just shakes his head and groans again.

“Hey, I know you wish you could be out patrolling right now, but you can live through one more day of house arrest, right?”

“Ugh,” he draws it out once more. He peeks through his fingers to see the tomcat step on the wrong end of a rake. Clint chuckles while Peter just rolls his eyes.

Since he was found on the roof the day before, Dr. Banner- no, Bruce- had assigned him guards to make sure he wouldn’t injure himself further. Clint had taken the opportunity almost automatically. The first few hours had been awkward, but Peter had warmed up to the archer as soon as he put on cartoons. This is the next afternoon. They had been watching cartoons since Peter woke up this morning.

“Can we at least change the channel? I can’t watch Tom and Jerry anymore.”

“Fine, Spider-Kid. You’re lucky I like you.”

Clint stretches to reach the remote on the coffee table where his feet are currently propped up. Peter watches with a small smile as he bends to touch his toes.

“Okay, now you’re just showing off. How does that not hurt?”

Clint tries to laugh, but instead lets out a yelp because of his position. He leans back into the couch, remote in hand. He mumbles, “I’m getting too old for this.”

“I agree, Hawk-Guy.”

Clint narrows his eyes. He presses something on the remote, and the channel changes to the news. Specifically, the news channel that is always making fun of Spider-Man.

“I’ll get you back for this.”

Peter resigns himself to his fate and settles back into the couch. He almost jumps when his phone buzzes in his pocket, making Clint laugh again.

“Shut up,” he says distractedly as he pulls out the device.

_ Ned - Are you okay???? _

_ Spidey - Yes! I am totally okay and I’m almost all the way healed! How are you? How was your trip? _

_ Ned - Are you seriously gonna just brush over the fact that you’re injured? _

_ Spidey - I mean I’m not that injured anymore. I’ve had a day to recover from passing out, and I’m back to my normal energy. So, how was the trip? _

_ Ned - AMAZING!!! We went to the New York Hall of Science and saw all the exhibits and it was so awesome!! Then we went to see the Statue of Liberty! But don’t think you’re getting out of telling me about your weekend this easy. Since I am a good friend, I’ll wait until tomorrow to ask you all about it. _

_ Spidey - Thank you :) _

“Who’re you texting?” Clint asks and leans over Peter, who manages to turn his phone off in time. “Who’s got you smiling like that?” His eyes widen and he gasps. “Does Spider-Kid have a girlfriend?”

“W-what?” Peter’s face heats up as he stutters. “No! No, I don’t!”

“Then who were you texting?”

“My friend, Ned,” he protests with wide eyes, hoping the red in his face is going down.

“Okay then, a boyfriend.”

Peter stills, mouth open, and tries to stutter out a response. “N-no, I don’t have a boyfriend! I’m totally straight! Totally and fully straight!” Clint smirks. He looks unimpressed. “Okay, so maybe I’m not that straight. But Ned is not my boyfriend! I swear, he’s just a friend.”

“Whatever you say, kid.”

He turns back to the news casters.

“You-you’re not mad?”

“About what?” His attention is back on Peter, exactly where he didn’t want it to be.

“I’m bi. Are you okay with that?” His voice is weaker than he intended it to be. He looks down as his feet, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

“Of course,” Clint says softly. He places a reassuring hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you for telling me, Bi-derman.” Peter looks up to see Clint snickering at the nickname.

“Shut up, old man.”

“Hey! I’m not  _ that _ old!”

“Tell that to the sound your back made when you tried to get the remote.”

“Uncalled for!”

-+-

“You ate today right?”

“Yes, Mr. Stark. Clint made sure to feed me,” Peter retorts. He fidgets with the web shooter in his hand.

“Don’t sass me, kid. Hey, can you throw me that round thing?” He points to a mess of tools and inventions.

“You mean the regulator for Clint’s new EMP arrows? Sure.” He tosses the small metal ball in Tony’s direction.

“So you’ll call Birdbrain by his first name but not me by mine? I see how it is.”

Peter ignores him. He straps the web shooter back onto his wrist and moves on to the other one. He messes with the web fluid and the trigger, all the while worrying about school the next day.

May won’t be back until Wednesday, so Happy’s going to have to drive him to and from school. That wouldn’t be a problem, except that Flash would notice. He would make Peter’s life hell- well, it’s already hell with Flash in it, but it would be worse. At least he gets to see Ned and MJ again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd you like it? I have an idea... So lately I've been reading through all of the field trip fics. And I KNOW they're overused, but they're also so amazing and I love that trope? So I think I might do that here. What do y'all think? Also who do you think Peter should have a moment with next?


	7. Anxiety? Anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWO CHAPTER IN ONE WEEKEND???? You ask and you shall receive... well, you don't ask and I write it anyway. I hope you enjoy.

Breakfast with the Avengers is surprisingly normal. Well, except for Clint. Nothing about Clint is normal. He manages to sit on top of the fridge and messily eat his cereal. It gives Peter an idea. Natasha walks into the scene, Clint on the fridge and Peter on the ceiling, both trying, and failing, to eat their breakfast. Her eyes meet each of theirs as they both freeze, and she sighs. She ignores them. She grabs a muffin from the counter and sits at the table, all the while keeping her eyes off of the two.

It’s when Steve comes in that it all breaks down.

“Wha-” he freezes, mid-step into the kitchen. “Why?”

Clint continues slurping at the milk left in the now empty bowl. Natasha just shrugs. Peter almost drops his bowl, but in a graceless fumble he manages to catch it and drop the spoon instead. It hits the floor with a loud clang.

“Oops.”

Steve shakes his head. He picks up the spoon and takes the bowl away from Peter. He sets them gently in the sink.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for school, Peter? It’s almost 7:30, and class starts at eight.”

“Oh, crap,” he says, eyes wide. His feet detach from the ceiling, and he falls to the floor in a heap of limbs. “Ow.” He pushes himself to his feet and scrambles out of the room, throwing a, “Thanks, Steve!” over his shoulder.

He runs to the elevator and tells Jarvis to take him to his floor. He grabs his backpack from the couch and checks quickly to see if he has everything he needs. He does. The elevator takes him down to where Happy waits impatiently at the private entrance.

“Took you long enough. I’m not getting a speeding ticket because you like to take your time getting ready. It’s a twenty minute drive, kid.”

Peter sits heavily in the backseat of the car as Happy gets in the front. He ignores the driver’s mutters and tries not to focus on the anxiety rising up in his chest. He slows his breathing, aware of the binder compressing his chest. Bruce had cleared him to wear it for school, under the strict rule that he would take it off after the eight hours were up. Peter had agreed, of course.

His stomach hurts. His fingers tap out a rhythm on his leg, but he stops after Happy sends him a glare for the noise. 

The car pulls up to Midtown High. Peter grabs his bag and flings open the car door. Happy grunts his displeasure at the action, but Peter zones him out. His head is spinning. There are so many people in front of the school, talking and laughing, causing noise. Peter walks through the crowd. He ignores the noise and slides past the moving bodies. He almost makes it to the doors.

A hand meets his shoulder, and he jumps. If the hand hadn’t pushed him towards the ground, he would have jumped onto the wall and stuck there. His heart pounds.

“You okay, Peter?” Ned asks with a frown. 

His voice is concerned, but it’s too loud. Too loud and too much. Peter’s breathing gets shallow, rapid. Ned’s brow furrows, but Peter needs to get out. He needs to escape.

He moves on instinct. He’s outside; he blinks; he’s inside. He’s running through the halls, dodging people and jumping over backpacks. He hears muffled shouts but ignores them. Until a shoulder rams into his chest. He falls to the floor, hard.

His heart is all he can hear, the fast pace of a drum. His vision is blurry, but he recognizes the face towering above him.

“What do you think you’re doing, Penis?”

Peter, for once, doesn’t freeze. His reflexes catch the punch aimed for his ribs. His fingers dig into Flash’s fist. He pushes back, sending Flash through the air to crash into a locker. Peter pushes himself up and runs. He feels the stares of the students around him dig into his skin, but he runs.

He makes it to the third floor bathroom, the least used one in the school. He locks the door and slides down the wall. His stomach is killing him. He manages to dig through his backpack and pull out his mask. He tugs it over his head and breathes a sigh of relief.

The eyes block out the light, and the sound blockers in the mask kick in. He lets the silence and darkness calm his pounding heart. He breathes deeply. Somebody knocks on the door behind him, sending vibrations through his body, and he whimpers. His phone buzzes in his pocket. He throws it across the bathroom floor.

The cold tile underneath him focuses him. It reins him in, directs his attention to the hard floor. His hands flatten against it. It seeps through his skin and pulls him back to the real world. Slowly, the sound blockers fade out and the noise fades back in. The knocking had stopped, now replaced by steady breathing from behind him. He recognises the pattern of breaths. Ned. But there’s someone else. MJ sits next to Ned on the other side of the door.

Peter feels his muscles relax. His shoulders drop, and the tension in his arms releases. His stomach ache lets up slowly. His breathing steadies, mimicking Ned’s slow and deliberate breaths.

“Should I notify Mr. Stark?” Karen asks softly through his mask.

He shakes his head.

Ned’s whisper, only picked up because of Peter’s enhanced hearing, is spoken after Karen. “You okay, Peter?”

“Ye-yeah,” he says, voice cracking and muffled through the mask. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

“Class starts in five minutes,” MJ says just as softly as Ned and Karen. 

“We wanted to make sure you weren’t late,” says Ned. “Also, I wanted to tell you that Flash was caught by a teacher after you got away. She said he had to go to Morita’s office. Apparently she had watched him hit you first.”

That makes Peter smile, before he realises that this could all backfire because of Flash’s parents’ reputation in the school, and his smile drops. He looks to where he threw his phone. The screen is shattered. He shuffles over to it and tucks it into his backpack.

“Karen?” he asks before he takes the mask off. “Could you text Happy and tell him my phone broke? I don’t want him or Mr. Stark to think I wasn’t responding for a bad reason.” At the AI’s assent, Peter tucks the mask next to his broken phone at the bottom of his bag.

Peter stands on shaky legs. He takes unsteady steps to the door and unlocks it, pushing it open. Ned stands in front of him with MJ off to the side. Ned opens his arms, giving Peter a choice. Peter dives into the hug. He presses his face into Ned’s shoulder and almost sobs as MJ’s hand rubs his arm.

“Come on,” Peter says. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand and pulls away from the two. “Don’t want to be late to first period.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a review! (Field trip trope coming up next chapter hopefully)


	8. Warning: Panic Attacks Included with the Spider-Man Powers Pack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THREE IN ONE WEEKEND... I may have gone too far today, writing 2000 words without stopping, but if I don't post it now, I never will. I hope you enjoy!

Ms. Megan greets him at the door, as always, with a stiff handshake and a scowl. Her glasses are perched at her nose, and her eyes bore into Peter’s. He lets go of her hand and slinks into the class.

He’s grateful he doesn’t have anybody bad in this class, but he knows he’s not going to be that lucky forever. Flash is in his third period, along with two of his friends. Peter won’t be able to see Ned and MJ until then.

He sits in his desk at the back. He pulls out the worksheet from Friday and his notebook. The bell rings, the tardy bell, and Ms. Megan turns to the class.

“Pass your papers forward. Today we will be learning about solutions-” Peter tunes her out. He already knows about solutions. He had to know about them to make his web fluid and to get the internship with SI, which yes is real no matter what Flash has to say. He doesn’t know why he isn’t in AP Chem. Oh wait, yes he does. He had missed too many days last year to get into it. Stupid Spider-Man stuff.

Peter opens his notebook and starts to doodle under the guise of taking notes. He draws his suit, but the spider legs stretch up to his neck and down to his sides. The red and blue replaced with grey and black matches the jagged lines of a web drawn onto the fabric. Next to it, he draws Reactron. Or, as close to the villain as Peter can sketch. He works in the waves of energy bouncing around in the room. A worksheet hits his desk. He looks up to see Ms. Megan’s scowling face.

“Ms. Parker, have you heard anything I’ve said since class started? Or is Spider-Man more important than your GPA?” Her voice is sweet, deceptive, and her eyes warn him to flee.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replies, letting the stress of his morning creep into his words, “I have been listening. And, well, yes; Spider-Man is more important than my GPA. I would say the safety of Queens is more important than some grade. Wouldn’t you?”

Ms. Megan’s scowl deepens. “Detention after school tomorrow. This is your last warning. One more time and I’ll have to call your parents. Or, well, your aunt.” She smiles at that. The kids around him snicker.

Peter nods, eyes downcast. “Yes, ma’am.” He pulls the worksheet over his notebook as Ms. Megan walks back down the aisle of desks. He works on it, letting his mind take over as he filters out the whispering around him. He works until the bell rings, drawing out the questions to make it look like he’s having trouble. He almost trips in his rush to get out of the classroom.

His next class, Art, goes by quickly. Mrs. Kramer assigns a shading piece  that Peter lets himself enjoy. By the end, he had forgotten about the morning’s troubles.

But then he arrives at third period.

Flash waits at the door for him, his friends at his shoulders. Peter lets himself enjoy the sight of the bruise on the side of Flash’s face. Then he meets his eyes. There’s a glint of danger in those eyes staring back at him.

“Mr. Thompson, Mr. Parker, you don’t want to be late to class, do you? I have some exciting news for you all today. You won’t want to miss it.” Mr. Harrington steps up to the group and raises his eyebrows. Flash and his lackeys retreat back into the room. Peter smiles weakly and does the same.

He sits next to Ned and buries his head in his hands.

“You alright?”

“Ugh.”

The class passes slowly after that. Flash whispers behind his back, and Peter ignores the balls of paper that hit him every few minutes. Ned keeps nudging him with worried looks, but Peter ignores that too.

“Okay, class,” Mr. Harrington claps his hands to gain their attention. “I have news for you. This Friday, we will have our annual field trip!” Peter picks his head up at that. “Every year we pick a different place to go, and this year has to be the best one since I started teaching here. We are going to… drum roll please-” Nobody moves. “-Stark Tower!”

Peter, along with the rest of his class, gasps. But where the others shout and talk over each other with excitement, Peter’s heart stops. He turns to Ned with wide eyes. Ned grins. Peter sees MJ hide a smile at the lab table next to theirs.

“This will be so fun! Do you think we’ll get to see Mr. Stark?” Ned’s smile is bright, but it dims slightly when he sees Peter’s expression. “Why aren’t you excited?”

“I work there, Ned. I don’t want to waste my only field trip this year on a place I go every day.”

“Hey, just think of it as a chance to prove that your internship is rea-”

“Hey, Penis!” Flash interrupts Ned. “Why don’t you come clean? If you admit to faking it now, it’ll save you the embarrassment when we get there. I can’t wait to see you kicked off the Decathlon team for lying about your internship.”

“Eugene,” MJ says without looking up from where she’s drawing in her Crisis Journal, “how does your face feel?”

Flash gawks at her, his face red. He narrows his eyes and moves to stand, but his friend pulls him back down. He whispers something to Flash, which seems to calm him down some. The anger doesn’t leave his eyes.

The bell rings. It cuts the tension in the room, and they all get up to leave. Most of the students rush out, taking a permission slip from Mr. Harrington at the door, talking excitedly about the trip to SI on Friday. Peter walks out slowly with Ned and MJ, followed by Flash and his friends.

“Watch your back, Parker,” he whispers as he brushes past the three, his elbow hitting Peter’s side. Mr. Harrington hands Peter a permission slip with a frown but doesn’t comment.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	9. Mission: Get Through PE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you get a chapter! And you! And another chapter to you!

Whispers follow him through the halls. The students part around him as he keeps his head down and focuses on not tripping. His binder digs into his sides. It constricts his breathing, but the flatness of his chest feels so good. One class left. One class left of whispers.

He changes in the bathroom near the gym, replacing his binder with a tight sports bra that doesn’t show enough for anybody to get suspicious. Well, more suspicious than they already are.

He enters the gym with a nod to the coach. Ned waves from his spot on the bleachers, and Peter gratefully makes his way over to his friend. MJ sits with her back to them.  He taps his fingers along the straps of his backpacks and ducks his head against the stares from students around him. Ned hums quietly. Peter’s ears prick and focus on the small sound. He latches onto it. The consistent hum distracts Peter from the whispers. MJ creates a soothing sound as her pencil scratches against the paper in her notebook.

“Alright,” Coach Wilson shouts to the class scattered throughout the bleachers. “Today we will be focusing on the climbing ropes. Pick a partner. While one of you will be climbing or waiting to climb, the other will run two laps while they are waiting. You will do this until I say to stop.” He turns to the ropes. The students take that as their cue, pairing up and arguing amongst themselves about the roles of each. Ned and Peter team up with a glance, and they mutter apologies to MJ as she just continues to sketch.

Peter starts to run as Ned gets to the back of the line for the farthest rope. He jogs at a slow pace and lets his eyes drift throughout the gym. Flash runs with one of his lackeys.

“Hey, Peter,” Abe says, panting, as he pulls up beside him, “just wanted to thank you. Even though I thought it was going to be me, I’m glad that you were the first one to punch Flash back. Well, not punch, but that bruise on his face is so satisfying that I’ll let it slide for now.” Peter goes to respond but Abe’s partner pulls him away before he can, switching stations.

He just shakes his head and lets himself grin. His feet pound against the floor, and the sound of MJ’s sketching lulls him into a peaceful run. Until Ned grunts as his feet hit the ground below the rope, his hands red with rope burn.

“Peter,” he whines, “switch out with me, please.”

He laughs at Ned but takes his place in line. He pats Ned’s shoulder with a grin. “You did well, dude.”

The line moves quickly as the students try, and mostly fail, to pull themselves up the rope. Peter bounces on the balls of his feet as he watches the girl in front of him step away from the mat. He steps up. He rubs his hands against his pants and takes a deep breath.

“Come on, Penis,” Flash scoffs from the rope to Peter’s left. “Show us how weak you really are.” He starts up the rope, hands pulling and feet braced against the bottom. His grin is tooth filled and malicious.

Peter’s anger from the morning rises up from where he had been keeping it trapped deep in his chest. He lets the tension in his body leave, and he smiles. His eyes narrow to the bell strapped to the top of the rope. Flash is a third of the way up by the time Peter moves.

He grabs the rope and tests it. His palm sticks to it. His smile widens. He moves with the grace of the person he keeps locked away at school, never to get out and reveal his secret identity. He moves like Spider-Man, but he also has enough of a mind to make it look like he’s fumbling. His muscles burn pleasantly. He hasn’t gotten to move like this since fighting Reactron. He feels free. His hand reaches the bell a quarter of a second before Flash’s does.

Flash looks as surprised as the rest of the class, but there’s something else there. A warning. Something that Peter has seen too often in the eyes of the thugs that charge at him with knives and guns. Peter loses his grip.  He falls to the mat with a huff, all the air rushing out of him. His head pulses with pain, but the scattered clapping of his classmates makes him open his eyes. He looks up to see Abe beaming at him, his hand lowered to help him off the ground.

“Wow, Pete, have you thought about joining the gymnastics team? The way you moved up there was amazing.”

Peter feels heat rush into his cheeks, and he just shakes his head, muttering a ‘ _ no thanks _ ’ under his breath. He takes the hand offered to him and dusts off his jeans. Ned meets his eyes and grins.

“What the hell was that, Parker?” Flash asks, stepping in front of Peter’s face, eyes blazing. “How did you do that? Are you on drugs or something? Is that how you managed to push me like that this morning?” He smirks. He found something in Peter’s eyes that made him target that thought. “So it is drugs, huh? How did you pay for it? We all know you’re broke.”

Ned puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Shut up, Flash. You’re just embarrassed because Peter beat you.”

“Oh yeah? Then how did he do it?”

“Have you ever considered that he’s not always out to get you? Maybe he’s just really good at climbing.” Peter winces at the wording. It hits a little too close to home, and he side-eyes Ned to tell him to stop. “Or maybe it was a fluke, who knows?”

Coach Wilson steps in between the teenagers. “Parker, Thompson, I believe it’s your turn to run.”

Peter nods and breaks away from the crowd. He starts the steady rhythm of a jog and ignores Flash glaring daggers into his back. His back aches from the fall, and his chest feels too out in the open. He needs to get out of here. His stomach starts to ache.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed :) How many panic attacks can Peter have in one day? The world may never know.


	10. The Aftermath of the Climbing Incident of 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I have a chapter twice the length of a normal chapter to share with you! And I must warn you, just in case, that there is an anxiety attack/panic attack described in more detail at the end of this.

The bell is too loud, and the students’ shoes slamming against the gym floor doesn’t help. Peter changes back into his binder in the abandoned bathroom. His back aches, and he knows his neck will hurt later from the position in which he fell. Ned and MJ wait at the door of the bathroom with heavy expressions that they try to make into smiles. Peter hears scuffling and arguing out in the hallway, and he catches Flash’s angry grunt before he hears the shoes walk away. He waits a moment and breathes to calm himself down.

Ned and MJ walk him through the hallways and shield off any curious gazes. He knows that word got around about the nerdy kid who ‘beat up’ the resident bully. He doesn’t like the attention as Peter Parker.

Happy waits in the black, nondescript car parked in an alley near the school. MJ waves as they exit the building, but Ned walks him to his ride. Peter’s Spidey Sense bothers him for a moment, but when he looks around he finds nothing.

“You gonna be okay, Pete?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Hey, Ned,” he calls as his friend begins to walk away, “thanks. For everything.”

Peter pushes down the fluttering feeling that rises in his stomach as Ned smiles and salutes. “Be safe, Spidey.”

Peter climbs into the back seat, as always, and begins to sort out his thoughts. He got detention. How’s he going to hide that from Mr. Stark? But even worse, he got on Flash’s bad side. That won’t end well. With the field trip at the end of the week hanging over him, his heart begins to pick up speed.

“Kid,” Happy grunts from the front seat as he pulls out of the alley. “Take this. Boss decided that you should get a badge of your own so you don’t have to rely on Jarvis to let you in.” Peter takes the shiny, white ID badge with wide eyes. It has his picture on it! And his name,  _ Peter Parker _ , printed in bold letters. The badge is white, but Peter sees that his picture is bordered with a thin red line.

He looks up to meet Happy’s eyes. “Thank you.” His smile is bright, but Happy just grunts in response. “Why now? I-I mean, is there something wrong with Jarvis? Why didn’t I have a badge before?”

“There was a security threat today at the Tower, and Ms. Potts insisted that all the higher ups get badges to ensure their identity. Apparently, you and I are counted as higher ups.” He lifts his own badge for Peter to see. “Now, if you’re done-” He rolls up the partition between the back and the front seats.

Peter gazes down at the badge in his hands. With a grin, he pulls the lanyard over his head. The extra weight feels good. The car stops. Peter climbs out and gazes up at the building towering above him.  He steps in and almost runs right back out. Security guards cover the lobby, if it can be called a lobby. The grand, first floor is decorated with new metal detectors and badge scanners. The guards, who eye him as he walks in, keep to their stations and wait for others to approach them. At least they know how important this job is. If Peter knows Mr. Stark at all, he wouldn’t let a bunch of armed soldiers take over his building without taking some precautions.

Peter takes a deep breath and tries to adjust to the wall of sound. He adjusts the straps of his backpack and steps into the crowd of workers and press. Mrs. Walsh, the receptionist and Peter’s friend on the days that Happy runs late picking him up, handles the journalists easily, giving a memorised reply that takes care of all liabilities. She catches his eyes and smiles slightly before going back to the horde of journalists wanting to get in touch with Tony Stark.

The security guards at the metal detector side eye him, but he complies with their demands. He removes his shoes and puts his backpack on the table to be searched. He empties his pockets of pencils. Then he gets permission to enter and scan his badge. The lights of the scanner flash green with a high pitched beep that makes Peter cringe, and he sees the guard checking the screen go still.

“What’s wrong?” Peter hears one guard say to the frozen one. The man just shakes his head and looks Peter up and down.

“You have a high clearance for an intern.”

“O-oh, um yeah,” he stumbles and tries to say something believable. “I usually work on the more important projects. They require a higher clearance.” His finishes the sentence off lamely and takes his bag. 

Avoiding eye contact, he walks over to a side elevator and fits himself between the wall and the passengers. He doesn’t press a button, instead waiting for the others to arrive at their floors. Once they’re gone, he presses his personal floor's number, 84. The elevator’s doors open silently as he slips his mask into his pocket (never know when you’ll need it), and he thanks Jarvis under his breath.

“Hey kid, how was school?” Natasha asks from the couch. Peter almost jumps up to the ceiling, and he hopes that the assassin did not see him bodily flinch.

“It was good. So you’re the babysitter for tonight?” He throws his backpack onto the coffee table and collapses onto the couch, a respectful distance away from Natasha. He sees her nod. She looks at him in the way that only she can, like she’s reading his mind, which she probably is. Peter goes to pull out his phone to distract himself, but then he remembers. His phone is broken. Happy hadn’t mentioned it in the car, but he never really mentions anything anyways.

Something must show on his face, because Natasha frowns. “What’s wrong,  Маленький паук?

He grimaces and slowly meets her eyes. He manages to speak through the internal dread and the stomach ache now biting at his abdomen. “How much would Mr. Stark hate me if I broke my new Stark phone?”

Natasha almost laughs. Peter sees the way the corner of her mouth turns up and the glee in her eyes before she shuts it down quickly. That makes him feel a little better, knowing that he made the Black Widow happy. His stomach ache eases up a bit.

“I would have to check, but I don’t think breaking a phone will make him hate you. If I may ask though-” A dangerous smile pulls at her face. “-how did you break it? It was made to withstand most things.”

“I may have thrown it across a room with my super strength. What? I was having a bad morning.”

“And why were you having a bad morning?” Her voice stays level, but Peter buries his head in his hands anyway.

“No reason.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He looks up to see her smiling faintly.

“Okay.”

Natasha doesn’t push for information after that, and Peter is immensely grateful. She forces him to take off his binder, and he does so, muttering under his breath the whole time. They talk about school, avoiding the bad parts, and move on to watching tv. Peter protests when the cartoons come on first, claiming that Clint had ruined them for him. Natasha chuckles, and Peter spends the next hour freaking out about how he could make the Black Widow laugh. It’s a long couple of hours.

Jarvis interrupts around 7 saying that dinner has been made and to make their way down to the common room. Natasha and Peter arrive to see Steve preparing some plates.

“There you are! Go sit down, family dinner tonight.”

Peter almost chokes. “You have family dinners?”

“Of course we do, Pete. There are so many of us, and we don’t have a lot of chances to catch up with each other, so once a month, we try to all sit down and talk. Don’t worry, you’ll have fun.”

On any other day, Peter would be ecstatic to be in this situation. Today though, a day in which he had been bullied and had had terrible anxiety, he feels unease brew into the beginning of a stomach ache. He hopes he smiles convincingly.

Peter follows Natasha through the common room and into a dining room. A large table takes up most of it, and the walls are decorated with posters of the Avengers and their allies. Peter trips when he sees the small picture, clearly cut out of a magazine, of Spider-Man holding cat while climbing down a tree. Natasha pulls him upright. He swears he sees her smile.

He finds a chair near the far end of the table with a piece of paper taped to it.  _ Spider-Kid’s Seat _ , it says in a messy scrawl. Peter grins. He takes the paper and tucks it into one of his sweater's pockets. The chair is surprisingly comfortable, but Peter wouldn’t expect any less from Tony Stark’s dining room.

The love that he feels dissipates as quickly as it came. Peter’s fists clench as the stomach ache hits him. He digs his nails into his palms. His head starts to swim, but he breathes in shakily with his nose and out through his mouth. His heart skips. He would have thought that his anxiety would have gone away after the spider bite, but it only got worse.

Footsteps come down the hall towards the dining room; the scraping of metal moves closer. The boots knock heavily against the floor, and Peter’s nails press harder. He looks down at the table. The white tablecloth blurs as tears come to his eyes. He tries to get his breathing under control. This can’t keep happening. He’s at dinner with  _ the Avengers _ ! He shouldn’t be having a panic attack now.

He moves his hands into his pockets, trying to control the sensory input. He grabs onto the paper from before and a soft fabric. His mask! Peter doesn’t hesitate to slip it on. He would rather look weird than have a panic attack in front of his heroes. The sound blockers kick in instantly. Silence spreads and he breathes out slowly. The mask’s mechanical eyes shut, leaving darkness to calm him. He feels somebody grab his shoulder, but he can’t hear who it is. He hopes it’s just Natasha or Bruce, but he won’t open his eyes to find out in fear of being pushed over the edge.

He’s being moved. Without any senses to see what’s happening around him, he relies on the definite things alone. He is no longer in his chair. There is an arm under his knees and another supporting his neck. He feels warmth next to his ear, and he feels vibrations come from where he is resting his head, likely on somebody’s torso. 

But the vibrations don’t help. They strike at Peter’s skin, and he struggles against his instinct to flee. He falls from his savior’s arms. He hits the floor, and the ache from P.E. is back in his neck.

Peter opens his eyes slightly, and with them the mechanical ones on the mask, still very aware of his sensory issues. He doesn’t see much before he closes his eyes against the light, but he sees a wall next to him. It's enough. This time he doesn’t hesitate to climb it. His hands stick to the vertical surface and he moves as high as he can, kicking his converse off to perch where the ceiling meets the wall. The tug of gravity slows his racing heart. He presses his masked cheek against the ceiling and breathes deeply. He remembers some things from his therapy sessions years ago, before they got too expensive and he had to stop going. He recalls a method of breathing and falls back on muscle memory. Four seconds to inhale. Hold it for seven. Nine to exhale.

When he falls back to the floor, his limbs too tired to hold him up, he lets himself be held.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Did you enjoy it? Three things I need to cover. One, I am editing the past chapters as I find inconsistencies so if you have any questions about stuff that I have changed, hit me up or just read through it again! Two, who do you think should babysit Peter next? Three, who is this mysterious stranger who has rescued Peter from dinner? Oh and if you can't tell, my life is one big mess of anxiety right now and Im taking that out on Peter. Oops.


	11. Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: blood and injuries in the chapter ahead, not very graphic but it might be to y'all.

A hand rakes through Peter’s hair, bringing him to consciousness. He blinks slowly and is surprised as the light doesn’t burn his eyes. He tries again for longer, keeping his eyes open to take in his surrounds. His limbs are heavy. His throat is dry, and his stomach rumbles. Someone laughs quietly above him.

Peter looks up to see Mr. Stark with a small grin wrinkling his eyes. He pushes back Peter’s hair, and his fingers continue to card through it. Peter has his head resting in his lap.

“M-Mr. Stark? What happened?” His voice is scratchy.

“You had a panic attack before dinner.” At Peter’s mortified look, he clarifies. “We managed to get you out of there before it got too bad. Don’t worry about it, kid. The only people who saw were those of us who have met you. And it wouldn’t have mattered if anybody else saw it, because they would understand just like we do.”

“Who-who got me out?” He tries to remember the person, but all he gets is the warmth from their chest and the soft smell of lavender.

“A friend,” Mr. Stark says, which leaves more questions than answers. “I’m guessing you’re hungry? Steve saved you a plate.”

“Wait, what time is it?”

“Half past nine. Don’t look at me like that, kid. Karen suggested that we let you sleep off the rest of the sensory issues. She said that after having them, you usually fall asleep anyways. Speaking of, why haven’t you told me about the panic attacks?” His face is soft, his eyes kind. Peter fights the urge to press his face into his hands.

“You mentioned food?” he says instead, because tears prick at the back of his eyes and he has to swallow the lump in his throat, and he’s had far too many breakdowns today.

Mr. Stark frowns, but he guides Peter to sit up anyways. He gets off the couch and moves to the kitchen, and Peter realises that he’s at his own floor. Mr. Stark comes back with a plate that’s full of food. He hands it to Peter and watches as the boy devours it hungrily.

“Wow, that metabolism is no joke,” he chuckles.

Peter’s face flushes, and he starts to eat slower. By the time he finishes, his eyelids are drooping and his limbs are even heavier. He slumps back onto the couch and blinks through the haze of sleep. He registers the walls around him changing as he is once again carried away. The soft fabric of his bed meets his sensitive skin. He grunts out in dissent and nods to the web on the ceiling.

“How am I supposed to get you up there, Pete?”

He groans again. His throat feels wrong, scratchy. Even making that small sound, he cringes. Then, he is lifted up to the web. It’s higher up then Mr. Stark is tall, so Peter feels confused before he forgets. He is greeted with the soft, silky threads that make up his web. He feels his blanket being thrown over him.

“Mr. Stark,” he mumbles, trying to remember what he was going to say before he finished eating. “I-I broke that phone you gave me. Oh, and I got detention. Sorry.”

In the cloud of sleep, he barely recognizes the sound of thrusters as Mr. Stark hovers over him. He almost smiles, but his eyes shut, and the sleep that he had been trying to avoid enters his brain.

-+-

Peter steps out of P.E. the next day with Ned at his side and MJ trailing behind them. Peter taps the straps of his backpack and picks up his pace.

“Dude, you’re not going to be late for detention,” Ned says as he tries to keep up. “And even if you are, they can’t blame you. Our class is on the opposite side of the school.” Peter sighs. He marches up the stairs to the third floor. The hall is empty, so he turns to Ned.

“I know.” He checks his watch and curses. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later. Bye MJ, bye Ned.” He throws a wave over his shoulder as he rushes into the detention classroom. He gets there early so that Flash doesn’t have a chance to pick on him. Peter smiles at Mr. Hugh, the teacher who was assigned to watch over detention this month.

“Hello, Peter. How are you?” His eyes wrinkle as he smiles back. He runs a hand through his thinning hair as he reclines in his chair.

“I’m good. How are you, sir?”

“I am very well. Now, take a seat. I believe there are three others that will join us today.” Mr. Hugh turns back to his papers. He takes a red pen and starts to write on the sides of an essay. Mr. Hugh is one of Peter’s favorite teachers. He teaches English, and he always assigns the most obscure poetry to read for homework.

Peter drops into a desk close to Mr. Hugh’s desk, just in case. He props up his backpack against his leg and pulls out his history assignment. He opens his textbook and gets to work. He flinches as the door slams into the wall, loud footsteps and laughter following. Peter almost cries when Flash and his buddies walk in.

Flash, on the other hand, looks excited. The dangerous glint is back in his eyes. He takes a seat next to Peter and smiles, the kind of smile that Peter sees on the muggers that he webs up every night.

Peter winces as desks get pulled closer to him, Flash’s buddies getting as close to him as the can. The sound of metal scraping against the tile floor digs into his skull. The clock on the wall ticks loudly as the seconds pass. Peter sighs to himself. Usually, his anxiety isn’t this bad. Maybe he should go back to therapy? No. He has enough to do and not enough time.

Before he knows it, detention is over. Mr. Hugh stands, drawing Peter’s attention away from his textbook.

“Well, kids, see you in class tomorrow,” he says with a smile. He locks eyes with Peter and hides a frown at the wide-eyed expression that meets him. “And don’t forget to analyze  _ The Wood _ , by Charlotte Bronte. I expect you to have at least read it for the quiz tomorrow.”

Peter stands and slings his bag over his shoulder, textbook and worksheet safely tucked away in a folder. He takes a breath and moves past Flash to leave the room. Mr. Hugh offers a goodbye, but Peter tunes him out. He doesn’t mean to.

He makes it to the doors of the school when his Spidey Sense itches. A hand grabs his shoulder and yanks him backwards. He goes sprawling across the tile floor. His bag is takes and thrown down the hallway. A shoe rests on his chest, applying enough pressure for panic to set in.

“Did you really think I would let you get away, Penis?”

Peter pushes back his fear and prepares himself to take whatever happens next. Flash almost never gets violent, but there are exceptions to the rule. After Peter makes him look bad, Flash  _ has _ to get back at him. The purple bruise on Flash’s face makes Peter cringe. This won’t be good.

But as long as Peter is the one being beat up, nobody else has to be.

So he takes the punches to his torso. He takes the kicks to his ribs. He takes the blow to the face without ducking out of the way even as his Spidey Sense screams at him to. He takes the pain, because he can heal, because he’ll be better by morning, and anybody else wouldn’t be.

When Flash and his friends get bored, Peter lays there. He listens to their laughter as they tease him and eventually give up. His new phone buzzes in his pocket, and Peter chokes on his own spit and blood. His body burns, but he manages to sit. He leans over and almost throws up.

He pulls his phone out.

_ Mr. Happy - Where are you? Boss said detention let out almost ten minutes ago. Get out here. _

Peter doesn’t text back. He pushes himself to his feet with shaking muscles. He moves to get his bag and falls to his knees. He resigns himself to crawling, using the stickiness of his hands to pull his body forward. He rests against the lockers when he reaches his backpack. He pulls steady breaths through his lungs as he looks into the camera of his phone. He’s a mess. His lip is split and bleeding, but other than that his face is okay. It’s his ribs that are the worst. His stomach is a mosaic of bruises, and his binder digs into his skin.

He stands, legs steady as he leans against the wall of lockers. Slowly, he walks back to the doors. He ignores the small pool of blood on the tile. He feels his split lip pulse with pain. He brings his fingers up to check if it’s still bleeding; it’s not.

Peter pulls his hood up and shrugs on his backpack. The sky is growing darker as the sun goes down past the wall of towers. He pushes through the school doors and keeps his head down. His Spidey sense tingles, but in a non-threatening way, same as the day before, and he doesn’t think too much about it. He walks slowly to the car parked in the alley that now seems so far away. When he climbs into the car, Happy is on the phone.

“Hold on a sec, boss. Yeah, he just got here. Yeah, he’s okay.” He hangs up and glances back at Peter. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he says, trying his best to make his voice strong, “I’m okay, just tired.”

Happy nods and pulls out of the alley. He drops Peter off at the curb of the Tower, and the boy pulls out his badge. He goes through the motions of security, this time getting weird looks for the dried blood on his chin. He limps to the elevator and presses the button for his floor.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about that guys, I've had a bad week and I have decided to take that out on my characters. I have Bruce coming up next chapter as Peter's babysitter because of a request I got, and frankly I love writing them together. Any guesses on who Peter's savior is? How about his stalker?


	12. Spidey's In Trouble with the Hulk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, better late than never. I hope y'all enjoy. (This chapter includes mention of violence and injuries)

He enters his living room, head low and hearing sharp. He waits at the entrance and listens. No heartbeats hiding, no breathing stifled. Peter steps into his room. He throws his backpack onto his bed and climbs up to his web, throwing his sweater onto the floor. He lets the slow rocking motion lull away the pain.

His chest aches with every breath, but Peter wouldn’t be able to remove his binder if he tried. He pulls up his shirt and winces. He feels the bruises through the binder, and he sees a tinge of red through the white cloth. He’s bleeding. Oh no. That explains the feeling of being stabbed by his binder.

“Peter?” Bruce calls from the living room.

Peter panics. He pulls his shirt back down and drops from the web ungracefully, landing badly on his ankle. He crawls to the door and straightens.

“Hey, Bruce,” he says through a pained smile, “what are you doing here?”

“Someone sent me up to- oh,” Bruce takes in the dried blood on Peter’s chin and the slouch of his shoulders. “He was right. What happened?” He steps forward, hand outstretched. Peter trips backwards. He whimpers as his ankle gives out beneath him. Bruce darts forward and catches him before his head hits the floor.

“Nothing,” Peter coughs. He sits up and shrugs off Bruce’s hands. “Just some dumb kids at my school. It usually never gets physical, but I guess they were in a very special mood today.” He laughs humorlessly. 

“Usually?” Bruce asks, his voice high. Peter winces again, and he backs off. “Let’s get you down to the medbay. I’ll fix you up. Come on, up we get.” Bruce pulls the young boy up. He puts one of Peter’s arms around his shoulder and carries most of his weight.

“No, ‘m fine,” he mutters, but his vision swims as the elevator descends.

The medbay is full of bright lights and nurses running from place to place, and Peter wants to go back to his web. He cringes as Bruce steers them away from the loud beeping of a heart monitor. Peter gets led to a private room and is gently pushed onto a hospital bed. He blinks up at the blinding lights.

“Peter, can you hear me? Okay, good. I need to remove your shirt, is that okay?” His calm voice soothes out Peter’s insecurities and fears, but his nod is stiff. Bruce helps him out of his shirt, setting it gently down at the foot of the bed. “Oh,  _ Peter _ ,” he says under his breath, and the boy blinks back tears. Peter shuts his eyes as Bruce rolls up his binder. Gentle hands wipe at his cuts and bruises, cleaning out the wounds and wrapping his broken ribs.

“Pete,” Bruce whispers, startling Peter who had been falling asleep. “I need to cut your binder off. I know, I know, but there’s no other way to get you out of it. If the issue is money, I can get you another one. It’s no problem, Peter, just accept the offer.”

Peter nods. He feels the cold air hit his skin and curses as a tear slips down his cheek. He forces himself to take steady breaths, something he’s been doing a lot of these days. He must fall asleep, because the sounds fade out and he stops feeling the soft sweep of fingers on his skin.

He wakes up sometime later with the swinging of his web. He rolls over, onto his ribs, and is surprised in the back of his mind that he doesn’t feel any pain. He considers that he’s in a dream but rules that out at the peace that he feels. He hears two heartbeats other than his own, one that he is unfamiliar with and one he is. He tries to listen into the hushed conversation, but his enhanced hearing doesn’t cooperate. He decides that he’s under medication.

“Jarvis,” he whispers, “who’s here?”

“Currently, Master Stark and Sergeant Barnes are in your living room, but I have just told Master Stark that you are awake, so he-”

Mr. Stark walks into the room. His skin is pale and his suit is wrinkled, but Peter sees his relief as they lock eyes. He walks to the web and sets a hand on Peter’s shoulder. His hand traces the split lip and the bruise on his cheek.

“Why didn’t you tell me about these kids, Pete?” He frowns, and Peter wants to cry. He let him down, again. Just like with the suit, Peter did something he shouldn’t have. He’s going to lose this opportunity, this internship, this chance at being an Avenger. “Hey, kid, don’t cry. You don’t have to answer now. I mean-” He tries to jokingly smile. “-now I know why didn’t want me to come to your science fair.”

Peter’s tears fall faster.

“Shit, don’t cry. Jarvis, how do I stop the crying? Nevermind, don’t answer that. Peter, look at me, come on.” He smiles for real. “We don’t have to talk about this now. I know that you’re not feeling good, so I’ll let it go for now. How about we watch a movie? We can watch that new Star Wars again, if you want?” Peter nods. He moves to the wall and climbs down slowly, being gentle with his bound ribs. He lets Mr. Stark guide him to the couch.

It’s only once the movie begins that Peter remembers. “Why was Mr. Barnes in my room?”

“He was worried about you.”

“Why? He’s never met me. I’m sure I would remember if I met the  _ Winter Soldier _ .” 

“Actually, he goes by White Wolf now. He’s taken an interest in you. Apparently, you remind him of someone, so he’s been watching over you. I was in the middle of telling him that stalking is bad when you woke up. I guess he left.”

Peter turns back to the movie. He doesn’t remember much about the man, but he doesn’t think they got off to a great start, what with Peter on the opposing side of the Civil War and all. He’s lucky that Steve and Wanda forgave him so easily. Mr. Barnes might be a different situation.

-+-

Peter wakes up the next morning to a text from Aunt May.

_ May - Hey, Peter. I have bad news. Unfortunately I have to stay with Jules until Saturday. She’s not doing so well. _

_ Peter - Tell her I’m sorry and that I wish I could be there. Take as long as you need. Mr. Stark is taking good care of me. _

He leaves out the fact that his torso aches and that his face is mostly blue from his bruise. He knows how much May cares for Jules. He can’t be mad at her for taking care of her family.

Peter gets ready, pulling his old, torn up binder over his head and trying not to think about the pain. He meets Bruce in the common room for breakfast. He gratefully takes the cereal handed to him. They eat in silence, ignoring the elephant in the room. When Peter gets up to put his dish in the sink, Bruce does as well. He stops Peter as he moves to leave the room.

“Here, take these. They’re for the pain. I know there’s probably no way to keep you from wearing your binder to school, but I want you to take it off the minute you get back, okay?”

“Okay.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think?


	13. Stomach Aches are Mean to Spiders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, we need to talk about some things. I will be tackling Peter's anxiety in a way that isn't normally talked about and a way that my anxiety affects me. I hope y'all don't mind but it isn't represented enough. Also, look at the end notes please :)

Peter keeps his head down as he walks through the halls. He ignores the hushed whispers and the snickers. He pushes past Ned and shoves his textbook into his locker.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He closes his eyes. He can’t take Ned’s frown. It digs into his heart. He hates to see Ned sad. For a moment he wishes he could say what’s on his mind, but the words just don’t come.

“Okay.” Peter looks up in surprise. Ned puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. “Let’s get you to class.”

First period passes like the night had. Peter zones out and does his work on impulse. He goes through the day like this, tuning out Flash and his friends. Ned is an almost constant presence, by his side when he can be. MJ hovers behind him. They both help.

Peter gets in Happy’s car, numb. He walks through security, then makes it up to his floor. He doesn’t care about the heartbeat in his living room. He goes straight to his web. He doesn’t bother taking his binder off. He curls up, pretending that the tight binder isn’t pressing down on his bruises. It doesn’t matter. They’ll heal anyway.

He presses his face into his hands. His stomach aches. The anxiety eats away at him, making his abdomen burn. It’s usually not this bad. Oh, crap. He has to go to the bathroom. He falls from the web and races to the bathroom. He hates this part. On his anxiety scale, this is a three out of five.

Aunt May had made the scale when Peter was young. One means a manageable stomach ache, one that his breathing exercises can get him through. Three means bathroom is inevitable. Five, which he’s only gotten to once in his life, means he’s in the bathroom for more than two hours. He tries not to think about it. Most of the time, he only gets under a three.

Somebody knocks on the door. He ignores it.

“Little Spider, should I get Bruce?” It’s only Wanda, thank the gods.

“No, I’m fine. This is normal.”

“Normal?”

“Yeah, my old therapist said that there are receptors in your stomach that react to anxiety and stuff by messing with digestion. I never really looked into it.”

“Okay. Do you need anything?”

“No. Maybe a hug when I get out.”

“Okay.”

When he opens the door, almost an hour later, he is encased in a warm hug. A faint red mist surrounds him, and he sinks into Wanda’s arms. He sobs. She floats them into his room and onto his web. They lay there together, wrapped in each other, as Peter’s sobs fade to empty, gasping pleads.

“I want this to stop. I can’t do anything. I need to tell him. I need to tell Mr. Stark what’s happening. I need to-” Wanda quiets him. She holds him closer.

“It will be alright. It will be okay. You are okay. Hush now, my spider. Do you want to sleep?” He nods into her neck. She touches his temple, red mist seeping through his skin. The next thing he knows, he’s asleep.

-+-

This time when Peter wakes up, he’s not alone.

“Yes, I know. We’re taking care of him. I’m sure he would want you here, but you’re busy. He understands that. I’ll call you if anything bad happens. Well, worse than that kid did to him. You’re sure he didn’t tell you about that? Okay. I’ll talk to him. Bye, May.”

A pause.

“I know you’re awake, Pete.” Shit. (Language.) Peter looks down at Mr. Stark, sitting on his bed below the web. He sees bags under his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark.”

“You don’t need to apologise. But I think that it’s time we finally talk.”

“Y-yeah. Jarvis, could you ask Nat and Wanda to come up here?”

“Why would we need-”

“Of course, Peter,” Jarvis interrupts.

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you like it? Let me know. I will be doing a new upload schedule hopefully starting next week. The chapters will be longer but more spread out. Is that cool? I'm thinking of uploading a new chapter every Sunday.


	14. The Talk™

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! How have y'all been?

“How much weight can this web hold, kid?” Mr. Stark asks. He sits unsteadily, staring at the hooks on the wall holding up the four of them. Natasha and Wanda sit on either side of Peter, who looks like he’s holding back tears. Natasha’s jaw twitches, and he knows that he should back off. He turns to Peter. “You okay? Ready to talk?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s time.” Peter breathes out slowly. “I need to talk to you about some stuff.”

“And are the bodyguards needed?”

“Shut up, Tony,” Natasha almost growls. She sets her hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezes.

“So, I want to start out with the basics. Thank you for this internship and this opportunity to be here with you all. I really appreciate what you have done for me. I have been trying to tell you this for awhile, but my mind hasn’t really worked with me. And I’m really sorry if this ruins what you think of me, because I can leave, but I don’t want to lose this.

“Um, I am transgender. And I’m bisexual. Just thought I’d get all that out there so I could see where I stand with you. I don’t want you to think that I’m just doing this for attention, and I can’t help who I am, but I need to see if you’re okay with it. And I know I’m rambling but there’s so much more I want to tell you! My anxiety has been so bad lately and my depression hasn’t helped. I’ve been having panic attacks and sensory overloads, but I don’t know who to turn t-”

Peter is tackled in a hug. Mr. Stark holds him there until he feels the boy’s muscles relax.

“Hey, it’s alright,” he says, his voice soothing. “I’m not gonna kick you out. I can’t believe you ever thought I would, but I can’t hold that against you. We love you, Peter. We won’t let you go anywhere without your permission. And hey-” He pulls away and makes sure to meet Peter’s eyes. “-we will always accept you, no matter who you are or what you do. Okay?”

“O-okay, yeah, thank you Mr. Stark.” He rubs at the tears in his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Come on, kid, I think you can call me Tony after this.” He smirks, and Peter laughs.

“Okay, Tony,” he says with a smile. Wanda pats his back as Natasha holds back her own smile.

“And,” Tony continues, “I hope you don’t mind, but I already knew you were trans. I didn’t want to intrude, but I had to look into your medical records to make sure it was safe for you to continue being Spider-Man. Turns out, there’s a lot I didn’t know about you.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise. I was waiting for you to feel safe enough to tell me. I guess you finally feel safe. I’m sorry that it took so long.”

Peter nods. “Can we get ice cream?”

“Of course,” Natasha says. “But first, you need to change out of that binder. I believe it’s been more than eight hours. Or should I get Bruce?”

“No! No, I’ll change. Thank you, Мать Паук,” he says, the words foreign in his mouth. But it’s worth it to see the slight widening of Natasha’s eyes.

“How do we get down?” Tony asks, ruining the moment.

-+-

Dinner that night isn’t awkward like Peter thought it would be. Steve hands him a plate, and they sit at the kitchen bar. Natasha and Clint wander in as Peter puts his plate up, both of them sporting bruises. Their smiles stop Peter from commenting. Wanda pulls him to the large couch and makes him sit. Slowly, the rest of the group moves to sit around them.

“Uh, guys, what’s happening?”

“We,” Steve gestures to the heroes piled into the small space, “are having a movie night.”

He gapes but nods. Wanda pulls a blanket over them, and Natasha scoots closer to Peter. He feels safe, warm, wrapped in a fuzzy comforter and guarded on either side by people he trusts. He pulls out his phone and texts MJ and Ned, including the fact the the Avengers have movie nights. He tries to stay awake, but his eyes slip shut. He drifts off, leaning his head on Wanda’s shoulder with his legs on Natasha’s lap.

Peter’s body feels weightless. The world around him is a soft blue, with the city below in sharp contrast. He lifts his head and he’s floating in the sky. He misses the warmth from before as it is replaced with the brisk wind numbing his skin.

Where is he? His mind is fuzzy. He can’t seem to recall where he was before this. He looks at the clouds around him. They creep closer. Their white mist surrounds him, and he feels at peace, but then he starts to choke. The mist fills his throat. He can’t breathe.

He’s falling. The ground quickly approaching, he presses at his web shooters only to find them missing. He would never go anywhere without them, so what happened? The top of a building passes him. He ducks his head, wishing for a quick death, a painless impact. He closes his eyes, but the wind stops rushing past him.

He stands on the side of an empty street. The black of night makes him squint, and fear rises in his chest. He recognizes this place. Frozen, he watches as red spills from a stop sign, the liquid pouring over the concrete and inching towards him. He opens his mouth to scream, but the mist had stayed, trapping the noise in his throat. He closes his eyes again.

He lays on something cold, tile. Liquid drips down his face. A numb pain courses through his body, like the pricking of needles over every inch of his skin. His head aches. He ghosts his fingers over his hairline, and when he pulls back, they are covered in red.

He looks up. Flash towers above him with a malicious smirk. His knuckles are cracked. Blood drips down on to the tile, leaving pools of red.

Peter blinks, and again the scene changes. Pressure. Pressure everywhere. Something digs into his back. His chest is compressed by so much weight that he can barely breathe. He’s sure his leg is broken. His wrist is at an odd angle. His head pounds, and dust falls on his face.

He knows where he is this time. The memory is fresh. The building on top of him is crumbling, threatening to bury him in concrete and metal.

His shoulder jerks. Sound blasts into his ears.

“Peter,” the voice shouts, “Peter, wake up!”

His body lurches, gasping for breath as he stares up at an unfamiliar face. Hair falls around his head, and two blue eyes stare back at him. The man above him is frowning, but Peter doesn’t care.

“You’re Bucky Barnes,” he whispers breathlessly. “The White Wolf.”

Mr. Barnes moves back, his hand hovering over Peter’s shoulder still, unsure if he should comfort the boy or respond to the awe in his voice. “Yes,” is all he says. His metal fist clenches as he waits for the barrage of insults. He’s used to them by now.

“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Peter says, eyes fixed on the metal that somehow moves like flesh. “I know we didn’t first meet under the best circumstances, and-” He looks around, noticing he’s on his bed, soaked with sweat. “-maybe these aren’t that great either. I’m sorry.”

Mr. Barnes frowns, and Peter freezes. That was the wrong thing to say. He didn’t mean to make him upset, but sometimes he rambles. He can’t help it.

“I mean-”

“Peter,” Bucky interrupts, and Peter recognizes that this is Bucky, not Mr. Barnes. “You were screaming.” His voice is smooth, but his eyes betray him. He fights the urge to interrogate, Steve’s voice in his head telling him to use his words. He almost smiles at that. A part of him, a part left behind from Hydra, tells him to escape, to not get attached. He ignores it.

“I was? Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up, Mr. Barnes.” His head drops into his hands, and Bucky relaxes.

“I wasn’t asleep,” he says. “Call me Bucky. Why were you screaming?” He wants to reassure Peter, but he doesn’t know how. So, he stays standing, arms behind his back, one hand clasped onto the other’s wrist.

“Oh, um, I was having a nightmare.”

“Do the nightmares come often?”

Peter nods. He wipes at his eyes. He doesn’t want to meet Bucky’s eyes in fear of what he might find there. Bucky’s voice sounds odd, and Peter wonders why. He notices the stiff posture.

“Do you want to sit down?”

Bucky doesn’t move. Outwardly, he doesn’t react, but his mind is moving a mile a minute. What would happen if he lets himself get close to the boy? What happens when he finds out the horrible things he had done for Hydra? Bucky can’t let that happen. He should have pretended not to hear the screams. He should never have let Peter know that he was looking over him. He does his best work from afar, and he should have let it stay that way.

“It-it’s okay,” Peter says, looking up to see the inner turmoil in Bucky’s eyes. “You don’t have to. Actually, I have a question if that’s okay?” He doesn’t want to push too far, but it has been itching at him since Tony had mentioned the White Wolf.

Bucky nods. He doesn’t know what to expect from the boy who had been screaming a moment before.

“Why have you been following me? I’m not mad, but I don’t know why you decided to follow me of all people.”

Bucky pauses. He isn’t sure why he picked Peter. He had seen him when he first arrived in the Tower, and there was something in the way he talked and moved that reminded him of Steve, not Captain America, just Steve. The shy, awkward Steve. He doesn’t say this though.

“You are different,” he says instead. “You are unlike the other allies.”

“Allies?”

“Steve calls them ‘friends,’ but I do not care for the term. I have found that friends are easily swayed, while allies are trustworthy. So, yes. Allies.”

“Am I your ally?”

This time he doesn’t pause. “Yes.”

“Why? Why am I different?”

“I do not know,” he says, brow furrowed.

Sensing Bucky starting to get frustrated, Peter tries something else. “I know you’ve been looking after me. Thank you. I just- I don’t want you to think that I’m totally helpless.”

“Why would I think that?”

“Well, I mean, isn’t that why you’ve been following me?” He blinks up at Bucky.

“No. My main objective is your safety.”

“Why?” Peter takes in the man before him. He sees the dark bags under his eyes and the way his metal arm ripples in the dim light. His hair is matted and tangled. His eyes narrow, and he seems to be looking over Peter in turn.

“Steve gave me advice when I moved in,” he says. “He told me to find something to hold on to, something permanent. . I am choosing you.”

“I-I don’t know how to react to that.”

Bucky doesn’t respond. Peter’s phone alarm goes off on his bedside table, startling them both. He silences it, and when he looks back up, Bucky is walking out the door. He sighs. He needs to get ready for school.

-+-

“And, class, don’t forget! You need to turn in a signed permission slip by the time we get into the bus tomorrow morning, or you will have to stay here and write an essay. I know, and I assure you it will be easier to just get it signed.” The bell rings, dismissing the excited students.

Ned escorts Peter past the crowd. They ignore Flash’s taunts and head to Peter’s next class.

“Ned,” he says, a hint of panic evident in his voice. “I forgot about the permission slip. Since Aunt May is out of town, I don’t have anybody to sign it. But if I don’t go, Flash will see it as an excuse. And I really don’t want him to have proof that I don’t work there, even if it is fake. Especially now.”

“Hey, it’ll be okay. Just ask May to send Mr. Harrington an email. That way, you don’t have to tell Mr. Stark about it.”

“Thanks, Ned,” Peter says, a smile playing at his lips. He sometimes forgets how much he values talking to his best friend. Ned always has a way to make things better.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any comments? Suggestions? Maybe criticisms?


	15. The Field Trip Trope Is Overused But We're Doing It Anyway (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE GOT A LONG CHAPTER HERE
> 
> ALSO FIELD TRIP PART ONE

Friday morning is hectic. Peter rushes through his breakfast, ignoring the weird looks from the others as he crawls along the ceiling to get from place to place. He almost drops onto Wanda, but she catches him with her magic and sets him gently onto the floor. He apologizes and scrambles back up the wall.

Happy drops him off at school, and he darts up the stairs, his heart pounding. His feet carry him to Mr. Harrington’s classroom just before the bells rings. The room is full of students, all trying to find a seat as they talk with their friends. There’s an excited energy to the room. Ned pulls him to the corner to sit with him and MJ.

“Alright students!” Mr. Harrington claps his hands to get their attention. The chatter dies down to a muffled whisper. “Since there are so many of you here, you will be splitting into three groups. My first period will be in the first bus, third in the second bus, and sixth and eighth in the third bus. Does everybody understand? Okay, good. We leave in-” He checks his watch. “-ten minutes. We’ll be there until 3:30, and then we will return at 3:45 where we will end the day. Any questions?” A dozen hands shoot up. “Any questions that do not involve the Avengers?” Only three hands are left up.

“It said on the permission slip that we didn’t have to bring our own lunch,” a boy says from a seat in the front. “Does that mean that it will be provided for us?”

“Yes, yes it does. We will be eating in the Stark cafeteria. Yes, Ms. Jones, your question?”

“Will we get a chance to talk with the heads of each section of Stark Industries? I have some questions for a paper I’m writing.”

“There will be a little Q and A before we leave, and if we run into anyone, with their permission, you may talk with them. But, you have to follow the rules of any field trip: be polite, keep your hands to yourself, and reflect well on Midtown High.”

“Will we get to see Tony Stark?” Flash asks, done waiting to be called on.

“No, that is not on our schedule, but who knows? Maybe we’ll pass him on his busy schedule.”

Peter wants to laugh at that, but the churning in his stomach stops him. He has seen Tony’s schedule, and it is anything but busy. He knows that Tony ignores all of his meetings that Ms. Potts plans for him. If he is required to attend one, Ms. Potts has to walk him there and back to make sure he stays. Peter had witnessed this the day before.

Ned nudges him with his elbow. “Will Mr. Stark actually be there?”

“I hope not,” he says back quietly. “If he is, I’m screwed.”

“What? I thought you wanted to prove that your internship is real. How better to do that than see Tony Stark himself?”

“Penis is just scared,” Flash buts in. “He knows that he’s going to be exposed after today. How about this, if you admit to it now, I won’t give you such a hard time. I’m not going to be so agreeable at the end of the day.” He grins. There’s a glint in his eye that makes it clear that he thinks he’s right.

“Hey, Flash,” MJ says as she puts her journal back into her bag, “why don’t you focus on your own issues for once? I know for a fact that you tried to get an internship with SI before, and that they turned you down. Maybe this isn’t about Peter. Maybe it’s about you.” She meets Flash’s glare with a bored look. Peter has to hold back his smile.

Mr. Harrington claps again. He begins to usher group one out into the hallway, where a teacher leads them to the bus. He does this with each group, Peter in the second one with Ned, MJ, and, unfortunately, Flash.

They board the bus, handing their permission slips to their teacher. Peter waits patiently in the line to get on, his printed out permission slip, signed electronically by May, crumpling in his hand. He lets out a relieved sigh as he sees who is accompanying them.

“Ah, Mr. Parker,” Mr. Hugh says with a smile, “glad to see you on this fine morning.”

“You as well. Here you go,” he replies as he hands the teacher his paper. 

He returns the smile and climbs into the bus. He spots Flash at the front and lowers his head as he walks past, tightening his grip on the straps of his backpack. He sits in the back row and leans against the window, letting the cold seep into him. He barely notices Ned sit next to him. He’s too focused on ignoring the noise coming from the almost shouting group of students ahead of him.

His fingers tingle, and he clenches them in his shirt. He needs to get this under control. He focuses on the cold from the window and the rough texture of his shirt. Peter feels Ned unclench his fingers from the fabric, threading his own through Peter’s. Ned takes a deep breath. Peter copies it. MJ taps out a soothing beat in the row in front of them.

By the time Peter has regained his breath, the bus is pulling up to the Tower. It looms over them. Students are pressed against the windows, pointing at the intimidating structure.

MJ leads him through the bus behind the clamoring students. With Ned behind him and MJ in front, Peter knows that he will be okay. He calmly walks toward the entrance, following the crowd. They stick to the back of it.

“Alright,” Mr. Hugh says from the front of the group, “Mrs. Walsh here is going to hand out your badges for today. She has informed me that they will be shut down at the end of the day. Please be calm as we wait for everybody to get one.”

Peter looks around, eyes wide. Will he have to get a new badge? He doesn’t know the company policy. And what if Mrs. Walsh calls attention to him? He doesn’t spend a lot of time in the lobby, but when he does, usually waiting for Happy on his intern days, Mrs. Walsh is there to talk to him. And usually- Peter freezes- there are more people milling around. There’s almost nobody in the lobby now, only security and mandatory employees.

His Spidey Senses don’t tingle, so he relaxes for the moment. That is, until, Mrs. Walsh calls his name. He hadn’t even heard her get to P in the alphabet of last names, but he’s sure his face can’t get any redder.

“Peter?” she asks again, confusion clear in her voice. “Are you with this tour group?”

“Um, yeah-yeah, I’m with them.” He moves through the group toward the desk.

“Okay.” She looks unsure. “Do you have your badge? The machine recognised your name, so it didn’t print you a new one. Is that alright?”

“Yes, that’s okay. Thank you, Mrs. Walsh.” He takes off his backpack and rifles through it, pulling out his badge. He puts it on, and with a final smile to Mrs. Walsh, heads back to Ned and MJ. Then he realises how many eyes are on him. Flash looks angry, and Peter detects a hint of insecurity from him. Peter smiles broadly at that. Ned nudges him with his shoulder. They share a proud look.

Students whisper around them, but with Ned smiling at him, Peter feels better than ever before. He pushes that thought away quickly, focusing on the look on Flash’s face and not his best friend’s smile.

“Hello,” a young man says with a wave, calling the group’s attention. “My name is Emil, and I will be your tour guide today! Any questions?”

Five or six students raise their hands. Emil goes through each of their questions, mostly answering the questions about the Avengers vaguely, saying that it’s classified. Peter nods along at that. He knows that feeling well, when something is too classified to speak about. His suit itches under his clothes.

They go through security single file, and Peter ignores the security guard that gives him a weird look because of his security clearance. He’s just happy that the woman doesn’t speak up.

Emil moves them to an large elevator. He explains that it is mostly used for moving tech and machinery, so it has to have a lot of space. A couple of kids ask questions about the type of machinery, but Peter tunes them out. He’s too busy worrying. His earlier confidence is slowly leaving him, and his stomach is starting to hurt. Ned is a reassuring presence through the elevator ride, but then Flash speaks up.

“Emil,” he says with that arrogant tone that Peter has grown to hate. “How many high school interns does Stark Industries have?”

“Um,” he says slowly, clearly confused by the question. “Not many, maybe five or six? Usually, we hire from colleges.”

“Huh, so would you say these interns would be well known because of this?”

“Yes, relatively speaking, of course. I know the three that work in my sector, but there are others that work in higher or lower floors. Speaking of, does anybody want to guess what my job is?”

After that, Peter zones out again. He hears that Emil is a scientist on one of the middle floors, high but not high enough for Peter to know him. Peter sometimes works with the higher labs when he has free time, just helping with equations and contributing to the creative process.

The elevator doors open, and the class steps into a large space.

“Okay, first up is the Avengers’ Museum. These rooms house different tech and items that the Avengers have used or defeated. Of course, they have been dismantled for your safety, but please do not touch them or the glass. You all have 45 minutes to explore, have fun!”

The group splits immediately, most of them heading to the Iron Man exhibit. Peter follows Ned to the Spider-Man exhibit. Peter stares up at it with wide eyes. His old suit, made of a jacket and pants, is displayed front and center. A little card describing his achievements sits behind the glass below the suit.

“Wow,” he whispers. “I didn’t know this was here.”

Ned points to the old web shooters that lay next to the suit. “Are those the ones you made in chemistry?” Peter nods. “Cool.”

MJ chuckles. She gestures to the googles strapped onto the hood. “You had great fashion sense back then.” She pats his head in a way that would be condescending if it were anybody but MJ, but he knows her well enough to know that any form of touching is a sign of affection. He grins toothily.

With Ned and MJ at his side, Peter feels unstoppable. They go through the other displays, lingering on the Black Widow’s to talk about how cool she is. Peter explains how her Widow Bites work and tells MJ about the rants that she can go into at breakfast about the patriarchy, occasionally joined by Steve.

But then, their time is up. Emil ushers them back into the elevator and whisks them away to a lab on one of the lower floors.

“Here, we will be having a little contest,” he says as they take their seats at the specified lab tables. “You will get an hour and a half to build the best robot you can, complete with coding and wiring, with the tools available. This robot will have to do three things! One, pick up a can of soda. Two, wave to the rest of the class. And three, move around unhindered. On the count of three, you may begin. One, two, three!”

Peter and MJ move to assemble the wiring and the parts as Ned pulls the computer closer, ready to code. They fall into an easy rhythm full of banter as they work. Peter gets to design the main build, but MJ draws a face on it with sharpie that makes Ned laugh so hard that he has to redo the last few lines on his code. By the end of the hour and a half, the three have built a functional, yet still primitive, robot. They high five as the alarm rings.

Emil goes around, looking closely at each robot, inspecting the technique. He watches the groups perform their tasks, a grin on his face the whole time. He gets to Peter’s group and examines it closely.

“This is amazing,” he says under his breath. “I like the design and the construction, and I like the fact that it has personality.” He points to the face. “What about the tasks?” The robot, named Susan by Ned, performs well, moving the can and waving to Emil, then retreating back into a box. Susan even does a twirl before leaving. Emil claps at the end. “I love it. Good job!” He high fives each of them. His grin is infectious, and Peter can’t help but smiling along, even when Flash boasts about his work.

Emil calls their attention when he’s done walking around the lab. “I’m sure you all will be excited to hear that we are going to be visiting a higher lab next! One of our top scientists in that section has volunteered to show us around and teach us a few things. I, for one, am very excited! I rarely get to go up there because it is above my own lab.”

Peter cringes. Oh no. He knows most of the scientists on the upper floors. He follows the others into the elevator, nodding along as Emil explains the difference between a Floor Manager and the regular scientist. Peter takes the time to wonder what he would be classified as. He would fall under the Floor Manager’s responsibilities, looking after the other interns and scientists, but he doesn’t belong to any specific floor.

The elevator doors slide open soundlessly, and Peter takes a deep breath in. Right in front of the elevator stands Myra, one of Peter’s favorite Floor Managers. Her black hair is pulled up into a bun, and Peter notices that she isn’t covered in grease stains and bandaids for once. But there’s no way that she won’t see him. He sighs. He knew he wouldn’t get through this trip without some incidents.

He can tell when she spots him. She pauses in her rehearsed speech about the “very important work that is being done every day at SI,” and her eyes lock on him. She raises an eyebrow but continues talking. If anybody sees the gesture, they don’t comment. They walk slowly behind Myra, Emil at the back of the group with Peter.

“Hey,” Emil whispers, making sure to catch only Peter’s attention. “You’re an intern here right? The one that boy was asking about?”

Peter stumbles in his step, drawing some attention, but he plays it off with an apology to Myra. “Yes,” he says to Emil. “How did you know?”

Emil grins. He taps his ear twice, and Peter almost facepalms. Most of the employees in SI wear a communication device that links them up to Jarvis and the emergency system, mostly so they don’t have to talk about classified matters to the unsubtle speakers in the ceiling.

“Jarvis let me know as soon as soon as your group walked in. He also mentioned your security clearance, which, wow man. How’d you get that?” He seems to falter. “No, Jarvis, I was not asking for classified information. Yes, I won’t ask again.”

Peter laughs. He has had his fair share of talkings to from the AI. He understands the feeling. “Well, it’s not  _ that _ classified, but the short of it is I’m Mr. Stark’s personal intern.”

“Oh, come on, Parker,” Flash interrupts, his voice loud in the otherwise quiet hallway. “Don’t lie to someone who actually works here. That’s pathetic, even for you.” He quickly kicks out to trip Peter, but Peter’s Spidey Senses warn him anyway. He stumbles again but manages to not fall. Flash, not getting the response he wanted, moves on to jab at one of his friends with a scowl.

Peter shakes his head at Emil’s concerned look. “He’s an idiot. Don’t mind him.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Myra stops them in front of a window that shows the inside of one of Peter’s favorite labs. He ducks down subtly, hiding behind Emil and Ned. He sees Ryan and Theo working at their stations, and if they notice him, he won’t be as lucky as he was with Myra and Emil.

“Hey, Myra!” Theo calls from inside the lab. He waves at the class with a grin. “I didn’t know we had a class coming in today. Do y’all want to come in?”

The students answer as a whole, almost shouting their agreement to the suggestion. Peter would too if he were in their shoes, but he’s not, and he’s scared that if he goes in that room, something might happen that he won’t be able to take back. Mr. Hugh laughs.

Myra sighs. “I guess we have time.” She swipes her badge and opens the heavy door, pulling it back for the crowd to push into the room. She pats Peter on the shoulder as he passes, her smirk evident.

“You did this on purpose,” he hisses. She just chuckles.

“Okay,” Ryan starts. His voice wavers, and Peter sympathises. He knows that the scientist hates speaking in front of people. “So, what we are trying to do here is test out improvements for the Avengers’ ne-” He stops. “Is-is that? It is. Theo, look who’s part of this tour group!” Ryan smiles. He gestures to Peter at the back of the group who is trying to hide behind Emil again.

The students turn, their confusion clear. They see Peter’s guilty face, but they don’t think much of it. Flash had been adamant from the beginning that Peter was faking his internship, so he can’t blame them for doubting, even though it still kind of hurts.

“Baby Stark? Is that you?” Theo asks, his smile stretching wide. “We have been blessed. Does Bossman know you’re here?”

“No,” he counters. “And he will not find out. Your new motorcycle will be at stake if you call him down here.” Theo gasps dramatically, clutching his heart. Peter has resorted to desperate measures.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did y'all enjoy? Tell me what you thought!


	16. Baby Stark?

The silence is palpable. Peter cringes. Oh no, he’s said too much.

“Peter?” Abe questions, his voice high. Peter turns to see his class all staring at him with different emotions splayed across their faces. Abe looks impressed, Ned excited, and Flash looks angry.

“Oh, yeah,” Peter says slowly. He rubs at the back of his neck. “I told you that I was an intern here.”

“Yes,” Abe says, “an intern.” He sighs, but his smile peeks through. “An intern doesn’t get casually called Baby Stark.”

Theo steps forward, his hand on Peter’s shoulder pulling him against his side. “That’s because Pete here is Mr. Stark’s personal intern. He gets to work down here with us lowly scientists when he finishes his assignments from the boss himself.”

Peter smiles uneasily. “Yeah, but I’m not that important. I just get Mr. Stark coffees and make sure his paperwork is all done.”

“Ah, kid, don’t downplay your achievements. You single handedly solved an equation that had stumped us for weeks. Myra here almost went to Stark to ask him for you full time. In fact, she made it to his office before she got pulled away by an emergency.” He coughs. “Absolutely nothing to do with me, of course.”

“You’re the one who blew up the lab?” Peter asks, eyes wide. He had heard about the accident, but he thought it had been one of the interns, not a scientist that knew what he was doing. “We were cleaning up after you for weeks!”

Theo shrugs his shoulders and opens his mouth to probably give a witty comment, but Flash decides to speak up instead.

“No,” he scoffs, “there is no way you actually work here. I could excuse the lies at school, but bribing actual employees? You’ve gone too far, Penis. I can’t wait for Mr. Harrington to hear about this. Do you think he’ll stop at kicking you off the decathlon team? No, he’ll get you suspended. Say goodbye to getting into any good colleges.” His smirk makes Peter’s heart race. He almost steps forward, almost, but Theo’s hand keeps him in place. He doesn't know what he would do without Theo there to hold him back.

“And who are you?” Ryan says with a frown.

“Flash Thompson,” he says, holding out his hand to shake. He puts on his fake smile, and Peter wants to punch him. “Smartest kid at Midtown High and soon to be intern at Stark Industries.”

MJ scoffs at that. She meets Peter’s eyes and smiles reassuringly, a silent message that calms him down only slightly.

“Oh really?” Ryan refuses to shake his hand. “Because you sound like the kid that left bruises on Peter earlier this week.” Peter looks up quickly. He didn’t think that they had noticed.

Flash splutters. His face gets red, and he retracts his hand quickly. He tries to deny it, but Ryan cuts him off. 

“Anyway, as I was saying, the scientists on this floor get to work on and update the Avengers’ gear and weapons. You may think that this is pretty cool, but we don’t get to work on the active tech, just the stuff that they don’t need anymore. Actually, it still is pretty cool, I’ll admit. And Peter here makes the explosions worth it.”

Peter smiles, a blush faintly evident on his cheeks. He has never seen Ryan speak so confidently, and he knows that he’s the reason. It makes warmth flare up inside of him. He ducks his head to stare at his feet. He lifts his hands to sign a quick thank you to Ryan.

Mr. Hugh clears his throat, and Myra springs back into action.

“Alright, guys, I think-” She checks her watch. “-that it is almost time for lunch. Ask some questions then we’ll head down there.”

And just like that, the class roars back to life. They surge forward to surround the scientists while also giving Peter a wide berth. They shout out questions and raise their hands, hoping to get some intel about the Avengers.

After everybody’s curiosity has been sated, they load back into the elevator and exit into the cafeteria. The cafeteria, like everything else in Stark Tower, is huge and intimidating. Tables fill the middle, employees sitting scattered around, while Peter is pleased to see famous food brands lining the walls. The group disperses into the space, splitting off in groups to get their free food.

Ned pulls Peter to a burger place, MJ trailing behind. They get their meal and find a table on the edge, close to the door. Peter tries to hold himself back, but he eats quickly, his plate that originally was stacked high with food decreasing in height rapidly. By the time he eats the last of his fries, most of his class is done with lunch and wandering around.

He recognizes some of the scientists eating around him, mostly Floor Managers. Some wave to him, which he happily returns. Now that his class knows his job is real, Peter feels a weight lifted off his shoulders. He smiles through Ned’s questioning about the Iron Man suit, answering cryptidly when prompted. He sees MJ smile at some of his responses even if she tries to hide it.

Myra stands at the doors and claps her hands, calling the class back to attention and over to her. They form a crowd at the elevator, waiting for Myra to announce where they are going next. Even Peter is excited. He doesn’t get to tour around that often.

“Let’s get a move on.” She steps into the elevator and whispers into her comm for only Jarvis to hear. Peter tries to listen in, but as he sharpens his hearing, Flash steps on his foot.

“Oops,” he says with a smirk, “sorry about that, Penis.”

Peter just turns away, looking back to Myra. He’s too late to hear what she had told Jarvis. Dang it. The elevators open swiftly, and Myra is leading them down another long hallway. The students around him chatter excitedly.  His Spidey Sense tingles, the back of his neck prickling. He sharpens his senses to try and see what triggered it. Through the noise of the crowd, he hears the creaking of metal from above. He has to hold back a sigh. 

Falling slightly behind the group with Emil at his side, Peter signs toward the ceiling when they stop. He really hopes nobody notices him using sign language at the ceiling.

“I know you’re up there,” he signs, making sure that through the opening of a vent above it can be seen. He hears a curse. Emil watches him carefully and chuckles when he realises what is happening. Emil taps on his comm and gestures up.

Peter tugs out his own comm from his backpack, putting it in his ear to hear Clint tapping something out in Morse code.  _ Hey, kid. Didn’t know you sign. _

“Well, some of the staff here are hard of hearing, so I learned it. It also helps with the sensory overloads.” He keeps his hands close to his body as he signs, his motions constricted by the students around him.

“Penis,” Flash taunts, “why are you making all of those stupid movements? There’s no deaf people around here.”

Peter sighs. He hears another curse from the ceiling, and he knows what will happen if he doesn’t take control of the situation.

“None of your business, Flash. Why don’t you pay attention to our tour guide?”

Flash glares, but he turns back to Myra. She talks about the different types of labs for a while before moving on, leading them through more halls and passing classified labs.

As Peter is focused on hearing Clint move through the vents above them, everybody else goes silent. He hears the thud of boots on the floor. He looks up to see why everybody stopped, but the words freeze in his throat.

“Hey Myra, hey Pete,” Tony says as he glances up from typing something out on his phone. He walks past them, patting Peter on the shoulder as he does, but when he gets to a turning point in the hall, he stops. “Wait, Peter? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at school.”

“Oh, um, I’m on a field trip, don’t worry T- Mr. Stark.”

“Kid, I thought we agreed on calling me Tony. Hold on, let me get this straight.” He takes a step toward the group, his mouth folding into a smirk. “Your field trip is to the Tower?”

“I mean, yeah. We’re here aren’t we? Thought it was pretty obvious.” Peter lets himself fall out of his school self and step into his own confidence. He smirks back at Tony, raising an eyebrow. He wonders what his classmates think of him talking to Tony Stark like this.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

Peter pauses at that. “No, not really. I was hoping that I could have one field trip where something doesn’t go wrong.” Ned laughs beside him, but his eyes are wide in awe as he looks up at Tony.

“We’re not that bad, are we? Don’t answer that. Now that I know you’re here though, you realise that all the others will too, right?”

“Clint already found out. He’s been following us in the vents since we got to this floor. If the others hadn’t been alerted by now, I would be worried that Clint isn’t feeling well.”

They hear a muffled thud from above Tony, and the vent slides open. Clint lowers himself to the floor and dusts off his clothes. He waves for the awed students.

“Yeah, Nat wanted to come up, but I told her that’d be too much. Bucky ignored me though, so you might run into him at some point.”

“So, Pete,” Tony smirks. “You want to introduce me to your class?”

Peter sighs. He turns to them and sets a smile on his face. They look confused, but most of them are staring between the two Avengers in awe. Peter’s Spidey Sense tingles, but he doesn’t see any immediate danger, well besides his two lives mixing.

“Wait, so Parker was telling the truth?” Flash asks. Even though his eyes are wide, his stance is angry. He steps up to Peter and scowls. “No, how much did he have to pay you two to get you to say that?” He turns to Peter. “And how did you even get the money? Everybody knows your broke.”

“You do not have a high enough clearance to ask that,” Jarvis says from the ceiling, making the class jump. This is the first time that most of them have heard the AI speak.

Tony, on the other hand, has to be held back by Clint with a hand on his arm. Clint whispers something that Peter intentionally doesn’t hear. They both nod. Tony clears his throat. His posture shifts, his shoulders squared and his head high.

“We have a zero bullying policy here at Stark Industries. This is your first warning. If someone has to warn you again, we will have to send you back to the lobby to wait for your class to be done with their tour.” He clenches his jaw and looks at Peter. “I’ll see you at the Q and A, Underoos.”

Tony marches out of the hall with Clint at his heels. Peter lets out the breath he had been holding since Flash decided to speak up.

  
  



	17. Plot Twists and Assassins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are nearing the end, my friends!

They say goodbye to Myra at the elevator and thank her for showing them around.

Emil leads them to another floor, this one not lab related. He says that this floor deals with the business side of things. Some examples included were the hiring process and legal issues. Peter is surprised by that. He knows the kind of legal issues that SI gets into, and he didn’t think only one floor could cover them all. But then, they arrive.

The floor is open with no walls to divide it like in the upper floors of the labs. Desks are spread throughout the space, and each one has an intern sitting next to their assigned lawyer. Peter hasn’t been down here before, but he recognises some of the employees, both interns and lawyers. The lawyers are known to make frequent visits up to the lab because of the trouble that the scientists get into.

“So, this is where SI deals with all of the trouble that the guys upstairs cause. This is also where most of the interns are. They start here if they want to go into law or management. I started over there.” He points to a desk by the wall. “I got accepted as an intern when I got to college, but I didn’t move up in the ladder until a couple months ago. It was worth it though. Every coffee that I fetched got me to where I am today, and I could not be more grateful.

“This job has opened up so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have had access to if I hadn’t applied here. I recommend that you all try to apply here. Even if you don’t get in in high school, the door might be open to you in college. Oh, and over here we have our Head Intern, Katie. Katie, you want to say something?”

Katie smiles but gestures to her comm. She signs that she’s on a call, and Emil apologises. Abe raises his hand as they move on to another desk. Emil chuckles but nods and asks what his question is.

“Why do most of you know sign language? Peter earlier was signing to Hawkeye, and you just signed to Katie.”

“Good question! It’s not a job requirement per se, but it is suggested that we learn it. Stark Industries wants to be an inclusive place. People that are hard of hearing or deaf are welcome here, and we want to make sure that they feel welcome. Here’s a fun fact for you, Hawkeye is Deaf. After the interns learned that, they decided to teach each other the language. It helps to talk nonverbally, but it is also a great life skill to have.”

Peter nods at that. He remembers when he first arrived at SI. The interns had taken to him, teaching him the lay of the land and even helping him to learn how to sign. He owes a lot to them, especially Katie.

They tour around for a bit, asking the lawyers and interns about the company. Peter pays attention this time. He sticks close to Ned and MJ just in case Flash decides that getting lectured by Tony Stark wasn’t enough to stop him from bullying Peter.

Then, Clint gets proved right. It’s not often that Peter gets to say that, but in this instance it is true. Well, slightly. He had said earlier that Bucky would show up, which is true, but he had also said that Natasha wouldn’t, which is wrong.

Bucky and Natasha are waiting for them at the elevator. Their arms are crossed and their faces are blank, but Peter sees a hint of a smile when they see him in the crowd; the crowd, who freezes when they see the two Avengers. Even Emil seems startled.

Then the dam breaks. The students erupt into questions and requests, mostly for autographs. Peter smirks as Flash asks Natasha for one. Mr. Hugh seems impressed.

“Agent Romanoff, Agent Barnes,” Emil says with a high pitched voice, “we weren’t expecting to see you on this trip. This is a lovely surprise. May I ask why you decided to drop by?”

“We heard that Peter was here,” Natasha says, voice even. “We had some things to notify him of, but we didn’t know that he was here in a tour.” Her small smirk tells Peter that they did. “Now that we’re here though, we could show the group up to the Avengers’ training room. That is, if you want.”

The class agrees if their shouts are anything to go by. Emil nods and clears his throat. “We would love that, thank you.”

Natasha moves, gesturing to the elevator behind her. “Then let’s go.”

Peter manages to stand next to the two assassins in the elevator. He nudges Natasha with his elbow as Emil does his best to answer questions about where they are going. She nudges back with slightly more force. A non-powered human would have been pushed, but Peter just chuckles.

He has been in the training room a couple of times before, though never with the Avengers. They are guided to the far wall and told to stay put. When the Black Widow tells you to do something, you do it.

“Oh my god,” Abe mutters to Peter, “the Winter Soldier just looked at me. This is the best day ever.”

“Um, actually, he goes by the White Wolf now,” Peter replies. Abe gives him a weird look, and it occurs to him that he shouldn’t know that. “Mr. Stark told me,” he says, like that explains everything.

Natasha and Bucky circle each other, throwing punches and jabs to get warmed up, taking it easy. Peter fidgets with his backpack straps. His Spidey Sense tingles lowly, just a warning but no immediate danger.

The class watches as the two heroes trade blows, dodging and attacking. It seems almost choreographed, the way they move around each other. Bucky relies on his strength, and Natasha takes advantage of it. She uses his punches to direct his body to where she needs it to be to take him down, but he doesn’t go down. They are evenly matched, and Peter loses himself in the fight. He doesn’t notice what’s wrong until it’s almost too late.

His Spidey Sense overwhelms him, making him stagger. It feels like needles against his brain. He grabs Ned by the shoulder and closes his eyes tightly against the pain.

“Natasha,” he whimpers. He hears voices shout near him and feels a hand on his cheek. When he opens his eyes, Natasha is cradling him. Bucky hovers over her.

“Come on, маленький паук, tell me what’s wrong,” she mutters, panic in her voice.

“Danger,” he says. The lights flicker above. Something rumbles as an alarm goes off in the distance.

Natasha kisses his forehead and turns to Bucky. She says something in Russian that Peter doesn’t understand. They nod. With one last look, Natasha gets up. She sprints out of the room. Bucky kneels next to Peter.

“New mission: protect Peter’s class,” he says.

“Bucky, what’s happening?” He stands on unsteady feet. “Where did Natasha go?”

“SI is being attacked by a man who appears to be made of energy. We need to get you somewhere safe. There is a room near here that will suffice. Come, Peter, let’s move.”

Ned grips onto Peter’s forearm with a small look of terror. “We’re gonna be okay, right?”

“Of course,” he says. He straightens, pushing the fading pain away. He needs to make sure his class is safe. He turns to them, taking in their scared and awed faces. “Follow me.”

Peter leads them out of the training room with Bucky following closely behind. He finds the room and unlocks it by scanning his badge. The class loads into the room, but Peter pauses. He has his suit on under his clothes. He could do something. He could help.

“Peter,” Ned says in a quiet voice, “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it. They’ve got it handled out there. Please, we need you here.” Ned takes Peter’s hand. The gentle touch breaks him.

“Okay,” he says. He closes the door and makes sure it’s locked, never letting go of Ned’s hand. “Jarvis, is the intruder Reactron?”

“Yes, Mr. Parker,” the voice says. “He and Iron Man are currently fighting two floors above this one.”

“Shit,” he says to himself. He runs his free hand through his hair. “Tell the Avengers that there’s something in Tony’s lab that may help. I made a- a device that will basically take all of the energy away from Reactron. It looks like a cube? Does that help?”

A moment passes. “Yes, Mr. Stark finds that information very useful. He told me to tell you to stay with your class. And, no, he says that you cannot ignore this order. Baby Monitor Protocol activated.”

“What… no,” he pleads. “That was made ages ago.”

The AI doesn’t reply, and Peter sighs. He takes in the room around him, noting the scared students sitting huddled in the corner. Mr. Hugh and Emil are talking quietly to themselves, and Bucky has posted himself by the door. Ned pulls Peter into a hug, which he gladly reciprocates.

“Thank you, for everything. You keep me grounded, Ned.”

“Who else will, Pete?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did y'all enjoy? Let me know! Also, this is a no spoiler zone!


	18. Q and A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We near the end. I'm thinking two more chapters?

The class is silent as they wait. They huddle together, some on their phones texting their loved ones. Peter taps his foot restlessly. MJ sketches someone in her journal, occasionally looking up at Ned. Mr. Hugh and Emil had stopped whispering to each other after the first ten minutes. Bucky hasn’t moved from his spot by the door.

Peter taps on his comm. He waits for someone to respond, but no one does. He’s getting restless. He stands, sidestepping Ned, and moves to where he knows a camera is. He frowns at it, like maybe Jarvis will understand his inner turmoil.

“Underoos?” a voice asks from the other side of the door. Peter visibly relaxes.

“Tony, we’re okay. Is Reactron gone?”

“Yeah, he’s gone. We got him. Your invention helped. You wanna open the door now, Pete?”

Peter unlocks it and tugs it open, immediately getting enveloped in a warm hug. He falters before returning it. He feels Tony’s hand on the back of his head, and he squeezes tighter.

“Mission report?” Bucky asks. Tony pulls away from Peter and regards him.

“Reactron is contained in one of the cells we built. Peter’s device took away all of the energy, but Reactron still knew how to fight. Luckily, with his energy gone, he had no way of combating a repulsor blast. Steve and Bruce are with him now. What happened on your end?”

“Peter got his class to the safe room. We have been waiting here since then.”

“Well, that’s boring,” Tony says with a smirk. “How about we move this tour to somewhere more interesting? Maybe I could show you all my personal lab?”

That seems to kick the students out of the trance that they have been in for the last half an hour. They nod and shout their agreements. Mr. Hugh thanks Tony thoroughly, and Emil stutters his way through his own thank you.

Peter, glad that the spotlight has been shifted off of him, falls back in the crowd and nudges Ned. They share a smile. Maybe this trip was okay, he thinks to himself. At least he has something to tell May when she gets back.

-+-

The Q and A arrives at last. A couple of higher up Floor Managers arrive with some of the lawyers, taking their places near the microphones in front of the seated students of all three tour groups. They ask for easy questions first, ones that cover internships and basic projects. The class happily asks what they’ve been wondering about during their tour.

Then, Tony walks up to the microphone. “Hello, Midtown! Today has been interesting. Stark Industries wants to apologise for all that has happened during today’s tours. To show our appreciation for your school choosing to take a trip to SI, we want to let you ask some questions to our special guests. Welcome, the Avengers!” Tony sweeps out an arm and smirks at the cheers coming from the students as most of the Avengers walk out.

Peter sinks into his chair. He smiles at Ned’s excited rambling, but then Tony makes eye contact with him. He knows something is up.

The questions go well, mostly covering the Avengers myths and conspiracy theories. Sometimes, Jarvis has to interrupt a question with an excuse about classified material. But then, Flash raises his hand.

“My question is about the employee rules. I read up on your intern policies, and I noticed a strict no-drug rule. I wanted to bring something to your attention and ask if you knew, which obviously you wouldn’t know because I don’t expect you to know someone like Peter Parker personally.”

Peter sinks deeper into his chair.

“I have suspicions, which can be confirmed by others in this room, that Peter Parker, who claims to be an intern here, has been using steroids and possibly other strength modifying drugs. My evidence is substantial.”

Steve steps forward, his eyes hard. “Thank you, son, for notifying us of your concerns.” Flash puffs out his chest and sends a glare to Peter. “But, we can confirm that Peter is not on drugs. As an intern with SI, he is required to take drug tests just like every other employee. And no, there is no way that he could be cheating this test.  Peter Parker is a loved employee here at Stark Industries, and I can’t help but think you have something against him. I don’t know why you have a problem with him, but I can assure you that he is one of the best people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Now, does anybody have any other questions?” Flash sits back down with flushed cheeks.

Peter can’t help but smile through his own blush. He can feel the stares of his classmates on him, but he doesn’t care. Instead, he takes the side-hug that Ned offers and listens to the questions being fired toward the Avengers.

Just when the excitement dies down, Peter hears heels click in the hallway outside of the conference room. He stills.  Pepper Potts walks up to Tony and greets the crowd with a wave. Peter sees MJ’s eyes go wide and can’t help but chuckle. Pepper winks in their direction, clearly noticing Peter. She takes a microphone and calls on MJ for a question.

“Ms. Potts,” MJ says, clearing her throat, “I am writing an article about women in power for Midtown’s school newspaper, and I was wondering if I could get the chance to interview you privately for it?”

Pepper’s face lights up. “I would be happy to answer your questions. I believe that you are a friend of Peter’s? I’ll contact you through him. We can set up an interview soon, I hope.”

-+-

Emil escorts them back down to the lobby as the Q and A concludes. Peter catches a glimpse of Mr. Harrington’s shocked face as Tony follows their group down. He smiles. Tony slings an arm around his shoulders in the elevator. He ignores Flash’s mumbling about him, focusing instead on Tony’s lecture about the different types of vacuums.

Mr. Hugh shakes Tony’s hand as the reach the doors, thanking him for the wonderful opportunity to visit the Tower. Tony glances at Peter to see if he likes this teacher or not, but at the boy’s nod he smiles back and thanks him for taking care of Peter.

Tony looks around the lobby, trying to spot Mr. Harrington. He makes his way to him, dragging Peter behind him.

“Hello, I’m Tony Stark,” he says with his signature smirk. “You’re Peter’s teacher, correct? Great. I was wondering if I could just take him now instead of picking him up from school and returning back here. Oh, and I have his guardian’s permission.” He pulls a slip of paper out of his pocket. “Here you go.”

Mr. Harrington reads it with wide eyes. “Um, yes, yes he can stay here. As long as that is alright with you? I don’t want him to bother you.”

“He’s not a bother,” Tony replies with a frown. He scans the teacher’s face, then, deciding not to care, he leads Peter away toward his friends. Ned and MJ stare up at him, but he just nods with a smile. He doesn’t know them that well, only knowing what Peter tells him.

Ned hugs Peter tightly after the shock of Tony standing in front of him wears off. They sway slightly as MJ pats Peter’s back. Tony smirks. That’s something he needs to ask Peter about later.

He steps away, letting the three have their moment.

“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” Natasha says. She steps up next to him and ignores the stares and whispers as she’s noticed.

“Yes, yes they do. He did good today. I’m proud.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what y'all think! I know this one's kind of short but I have a lot of homework to do so I thought it was better to post it now.


	19. Peter Stands Up for Himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is kind of short, next one is going to be longer!

“You have your earphones?”

“Yes, May.”

“What about your phone?”

“Yes, May.”

“And your-”

“Yes, I have all of my stuff. I’m going to be okay, Aunt May. Now, can I get to school?” Peter taps his fingers restlessly on his thigh. It’s Monday morning, and his stomach is full of mutant butterflies.

“Okay,” she says softly. “Be safe.” She kisses his forehead. He leans into it for a second, his eyes fluttering closed, but then he’s out the door.

He jumps down the stairs two at a time, being careful of his binder. He greets the people walking along the sidewalk, petting the dogs as he goes. His smile doesn’t leave his face. He and Tony had mostly been in the lab over the weekend, but they had also had a movie night. Peter got to watch Star Wars with  _ the Avengers _ . He and Bruce had corrected the science behind most of it, and when Clint threw popcorn at them, Peter had relaxed against Tony’s side. That was a good night.

Now, Peter dodges through New York foot traffic as he races to school. Only when he approaches the steps does his smile drop. He spots Ned at the top, talking animatedly to MJ. His eyes brighten when he sees Peter step up to them.

“Hey!” He pulls him into a hug. “How are you? Did you get to work on the Iron Man suit? Or maybe the Widow Bites? Nevermind, I’m more curious about that smile on your face. What do you think, MJ?”

“Definitely out of place,” she mutters.

“I’m alright! I promise. Yes, I did get to work on one of the old Iron Man suits, and yes, Nat let me work on her Widow Bites.”

“You call the Black WIdow ‘Nat?’” Ned asks incredulously.

“Um, yes? Why, should I not? She said it was okay, but I didn’t really think about it.” He blushes, his fingers quickening the beat on his leg.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with it, except for the fact that your life is crazy, dude.”

“Come on, guys,” MJ says, looking pointedly at the crowd starting to form around them. “Let’s get inside before the bell rings.”

Peter ducks his head and follows her, trying to ignore the whispers surrounding him. Ned rubs at his back, which helps, but Peter’s breath quickens anyway. He hears a familiar heartbeat approach, one that seizes him with terror. He swallows the feeling. He can do this.

“So, Penis,” Flash smirks, “you gonna get me an internship, or what?”

Peter scoffs. He raises an eyebrow and smiles. He can do this. He steps forward. The crowd goes silent, all holding their breaths.

“I’m sure that if SI wanted you, they would have hired you the first time you sent in your application. And even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I have no control over the hiring process. Any other questions? No? Good. Now, would you leave me alone? Or do I have to tell Cap that you’re still bullying me? Because that’s what this is. Bullying.”

Flash stares, stunned, as Peter takes Ned’s hand and walks away, MJ shooting him a smirk as she follows. The group around them bursts into shouts.

“I’m proud of you, Peter,” Ned whispers for Peter’s enhanced hearing to pick up. He blushes.

-+-

The final bell rings, dismissing the rowdy students from their last class of the day. Peter and Ned walk slowly to their lockers, MJ sketching as she walks behind them. Peter sighs as he hears Flash yelling threats from somewhere behind him. They hurry out the school doors. Ever since the incident the Tuesday before, he hasn’t looked at the tiled entryway the same.

Flash grabs the collar of his shirt, pulling him up close so they are face to face. Peter pushes back the urge to fight back. He has to pretend to be normal until Happy picks him up, then he can do all the Spidey things he wants.

“What was that stunt you pulled earlier about, Penis? Did you finally realise that you’re worthless? You had to belittle me so you could feel better about your pathetic life? I bet you only know Stark because he pities you. I could-”

“Do not finish that sentence,” a deep, calm voice says. Metal fingers roughly remove Flash’s hand from Peter’s shirt. “You are a threat to Ally Peter. Do you know what I do with threats?”

Flash gapes up at Bucky, stuttering through an apology that gets ignored.

“Go,” Bucky commands, eyes hard.

Flash backs up quickly, stumbling as he runs back through the school doors. Peter hears a crash as he trips from inside the building. He snickers.

“Thanks, Bucky. Wait, why are you here? Not that I’m not grateful or anything, but Happy was supposed to pick me up today.”

“We,” Natasha says as she steps through the lingering crowd, “were sent by Tony to see if that boy was still bothering you. Are you okay?” Her eyes soften. She and Bucky step closer to Peter, guarding him from the eavesdropping students.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Thanks. Now, I’m pretty sure we should get out of here before the press shows up.” Peter smiles at the two. He turns to Ned to say goodbye, and he notices a blush on MJ’s cheeks. “Unless…” He smirks.

“Peter, if you don’t shut up right now, I will tell Pepper what you wore for Halloween two years ago,” MJ threatens through gritted teeth.

Bucky moves to step forward, but Natasha puts a hand on his shoulder. “I’m guessing you’re MJ? Peter has mentioned you.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Okay, so maybe I went through your phone when you were in the lab with Tony. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that MJ here wrote about women in power and didn’t ask me to be in it.” She smirks as MJ blushes.

Peter groans. “She’s kidding, or maybe not. I can never tell. Whatever-” He takes Natasha by the arm, an act that nobody else would be brave enough to try. “-I’ll introduce you sometime else. You know, when there isn’t a crowd listening to our every word.” He pulls the two assassins away from the children flocking around them, making sure to hide the smile that threatens to appear.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Suggest some stuff that you think should be in the next chapter! I'm trying to include a bunch of little scenes to wrap up the fic, so I'd love to hear your opinions.  
> Also, I just posted another marvel thing that happens to be Maria Hill/Natasha Romanoff if you want to check it out!


	20. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter..... I know, I'll miss it too. Just hit me up if you have a prompt that I should write in this universe or out of it. I'm going to miss writing my Spider-Kid.

Tony sighs as he walks into the common room. His day has been hell, and all he wants is to sit down and enjoy some garbage television. Only Pepper knows about this guilty pleasure, but he doesn’t care anymore.

Something is off. He pauses at the entrance and scans his surroundings. He looks up to the ceiling, expecting Clint to drop down and make his day even worse. No archer falls from the vents above. Instead, there is a teenage boy curled up on the ceiling, head pillowed in his arms like gravity has to effect on him.

“Peter?” Tony smiles as Peter doesn’t move, still peacefully asleep. He looks so innocent like this.

“How did he even fall asleep up there?” Pepper asks. She steps behind him and leans her chin on his shoulder. He relaxes into her hold as she wraps her arms around his waist.

“I have no idea.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be with his Aunt this weekend?”

“Yeah, but she won’t mind if he’s a little late. As long as we get some pictures. Jarvis?”

“Yes, boss. I have sent them to May Parker per your request.”

“Thank you, Jarvis,” Pepper says with a smile aimed up to the ceiling. Then she turns to Tony, “Should we wake him up?”

Tony considers his options. If he wakes him up, he would have to deal with an embarrassed Peter, which Tony always loves to see. If he lets him sleep, Peter would drop from the ceiling as soon as he wakes up, falling on whomever decides to lay on the couch below him. They are both good options. His smirk must be apparent, because Pepper lightly smacks his arm.

“Jarvis, can you wake Peter up  _ slowly _ ?”

“Yes, Ms. Potts.”

-+-

He was indeed embarrassed when he fell from the ceiling, which caused Tony to snicker, claiming that he got the best of both worlds. Peter blushes and pulls himself back to his feet, muttering about patrol and how he was tired. He rushes out of the common room and barely avoids bumping into Steve in his hurry.

“Pete? Are you here for movie night?” he asks with a smile.

Peter stops. Tony hadn’t invited him to participate in the movie night, but he didn’t really have the time to tell him about it. It is Friday, which means no school in the morning.

“Can I? I mean Tony didn’t mention it, but the last one was really fun.”

“Of course, kid. Come on. I’ll get Tony to call May for you.”

-+-

Peter ends up squished between Tony and Pepper, his head on Tony’s chest and his legs on Pepper’s lap. Tony’s fingers card through his hair as he rants about the logistics of the science in the movie playing. Peter just smiles. He feels safe. He can hear Tony’s heartbeat against his ear. He needed this.

Natasha whistles quietly, attracting Peter’s enhanced hearing. She smirks at him, something genuine that fills him with joy. He gets to see them like this. His family. Bucky and Steve sit on the floor at Pepper’s feet, and Bruce lays across them, head pillowed in Bucky’s lap. Natasha leans into Steve’s side. The domesticity of the scene makes Peter’s heart soar.

He falls asleep to Tony’s mumblings about scientifically correct space suits. He doesn’t dream of falling, of being crushed under the weight of the world. He doesn’t get enveloped by the red that follows him everywhere. Instead, he swings through the city like a bird. He pulls Ned through the Tower’s security, hand in hand, and shows him his lab. He kisses Ned under the moonlight, fireworks not only in his head. He should probably deal with that thought when he wakes up.

-+-

He wakes up cuddled into Tony, wrapped around him like a koala. He freezes, eyes wide. He doesn’t know how to react to this. Will Tony yell at him? Will he kick him out? Is this weird? Peter has always been cuddly, but he never expected for this side of him to come out in the Tower.

“Relax, маленький паук,” Nat says from the floor in front of the couch. “He doesn’t care that you take after an octopus.” Peter glares at her half-heartedly. He ignores her snort of amusement.

“What are we doing today?” Peter asks as he tries to pull stealthily away from Tony.

“‘We’ are not doing anything,” Tony says, his voice caked with sleep. He stretches and, in the process, knocks Peter off the couch. He smirks. “May says you have decathlon practice. Or did you forget?”

“W-what? I totally didn’t forget. I just- Okay, maybe I forgot. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, Underoos.” Tony stands and takes the coffee that Natasha hands him gratefully. He checks his watch. “We have an hour until practice starts, so get moving. I’ll take you by May’s before I drop you off at Midtown.”

“You don’t have to do that, Mr. St- Tony. You  don’t have to do that,  _ Tony _ . Happy can drive me.”

“Happy’s busy. He had to escort Steve out to Washington for some meeting that I should probably be at. Now, do you have a bag? Or is it at May’s?”

-+-

Ned waits on the steps of the school, scanning the road for Happy’s car. He grits his teeth against the barrage of insults from Flash who sits beside him. He’s about to snap. He can’t take this anymore. MJ brushes against Ned as she pulls out a book from her bag. She means it as a show of support, and Ned takes it. He leans against her a little more heavily, well as heavily as she will allow. He respects her boundaries.

Flash stops talking, which is Ned’s first warning that something’s wrong. He waits for the iminent blow to land. Flash doesn’t usually physically harm Ned, but Peter isn’t here.

Ned’s second warning is the sound of repulsors in the sky. It can’t be, he thinks to himself. But then he looks up. Tony Stark, in his Iron Man suit, lowers himself to the ground, Peter blushing in his arms. He cradles his bag to his chest and doesn’t meet his team’s gaze. He can feel their stares.

Ned is the first to stand. He rushes over to them and pulls Peter down from Tony’s arms to wrap him in a hug. He ignores the shouts from behind him, focusing on Peter’s breathing.

Every time Ned sees him these days, he has to check if he’s injured. He doesn’t trust Peter to admit when he is not okay, based mostly on past experiences. Once, Peter had gotten through three class periods before telling Ned that he was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” Peter quietly admits. He pushes back the memories from his dream the night before.

MJ, who somehow snuck up behind Ned without Peter noticing, nods to Tony. “Stark. I trust Pepper got my message?”

“Ah, Michelle, an honor to see you again.” He smiles his paparazzi smile, trying to get on her good side. He had been disappointed to find out that she doesn’t like him. “Pepper will call you tonight. She’s busy right now, something about a legal issue concerning our Captain.”

MJ nods tersely and turns. She walks through the silent group of teens and into the school. Flash is stuttering something about the Avengers, but Tony gives him a glare that shuts him up quickly.

“Well, Pete, I’m off. May is working until dinner, so one of us will pick you up from practice when you’re done. Just text me when you are ready. Bye, Ned.” His mask slides over his face, and, with a wave, he’s flying off into the sky.

Peter stands there, surrounded by his excited teammates. He sighs. Flash steps forward with a dangerous glint in his eye. Ned moves in front of Peter, arms crossed. Abe pulls Peter to stand behind him and Ned, both guarding him with their bodies.

“Fuck off, Flash,” Ned growls. Abe grunts in agreement. Flash’s jaw clenches, but he backs up. With a scoff, he marches up the steps and brushes through the doors to the school.

“Thanks, guys,” Peter mumbles. His blush is a vibrant red on his neck and cheeks. Ned grins. Abe shrugs, as if to say, “It’s cool.” Abe leads his friends into the school, leaving the two best friends - or maybe something more - alone.

“So,” Ned starts, “I was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to go see that new movie sometime next week? I mean it doesn’t have to be a- _a_ _date_ , but you were talking about how much you wanted to see it, and I just thought-”

Peter takes his hand. “I would love to go on a date with you, Ned.” They share a brilliant smile. “Now, come on. MJ will be mad if we’re late.”

When they walk into the classroom used for the decathlon meeting’s, nobody comments on their linked hands or the look of peace that is clear on Peter’s face. MJ does grumble about them being late, but she smiles when she thinks nobody is looking. Ned sees.

-+-

Tony leans against the wall in the common room. He looks toward the couch where Peter and Clint are battling in Mario Kart. There’s a fondness in his eyes. He smirks when Clint hits Peter’s player with a blue shell. Peter groans in frustration and throws his hands in the air dramatically.

“He got that from you, you know,” Bruce whispers, a smile playing at his lips. “The dramatics. May tells me he wasn’t like that before.”

Tony rolls his eyes. He shifts so his back is turned to face where Bruce sits at the kitchen. He hears the low laughter he gets in return.

Steve moves to lay a hand on Tony’s shoulder, ignoring the raised eyebrow he gets. “Being a dad is a good look on you, Stark.”

Tony chokes on air. He glares, but Steve is already walking into the elevator with a smirk. Tony turns to where Peter sits on the couch. His eyes soften. Peter glances back at him with a confused head tilt, but Tony waves him off. He doesn’t need to know the sappy thoughts running through his mind right now. Maybe he is a dad. No, he would know, right? Right? 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review! Tell me if you want me to continue this! Contact me at my Tumblrs, qquoththeravenn and teardropsonrooftops.


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